When She Loved Me
by TreyTheGreatAndPowerful
Summary: For two years Nico was alone. Then Chiron sent him on a quest to find a new demigod. At first, Nico really-really-didn't like her. However, she soon grew on him, and grew, and grew, and grew, until...well you'll just have to wait and see.
1. Author

**READ THIS; VERY IMPORTANT:**

**This is a little note I'm adding to the beginning of my story. I need you to read this before continuing.**

**Lately I've been getting a lot of reviews about Nico being gay. This is Fanfiction. I just want to warn anybody that is very adamant about Nico's romantic life that this story is not with a gay Nico. To me, I feel uncomfortable writing about a gay character when I'm not gay. It's not fair for me to have to write about something I don't understand, and for my readers to read something horrible because of this. I realize that Nico is supposed to be gay. Please, if you continue reading this story, realize that my story is for pure fun. I'm writing in FanFiction so I can become a better writer, but I can't do that when everyone who reviews is bringing me down and saying mean and hurtful things. I appreciate the comments and constructive criticism, but please be nice and not rude. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy my story!**

**xD xD xD xD xD**

**xD *ENJOY* xD**

**xD xD xD xD xD**


	2. The Mysterious Demigod

**_Nico:_**

"No! No, I re_fuse_!"

"Nico, be reasonable—"

"Reasonable walked out the door when you suggested I go to California to find a demigod! With a _satyr_."

"I didn't think you had anything against satyrs."

"Chiron, it's not that he's a satyr, it's _which_ satyr."

"I always found Andrew a very peaceable satyr."

"Chiron, he wears _tie dye, rainbow tights, and colorful aviator glasses._"

"Well, his taste in fashion is quite strange…"

"He meditates in the trash cans _every day._"

"His personal activities are quite different…"

"He's a nuisance."

Now, Chiron's usually calm face puckered in suppressed anger. Only a week ago, the centaur got a unanimous message telling him of a demigod who was in grave danger. What sort of danger, no one knew. The demigod was unknown until someone decided to shine light on the situation. It was a little strange that the message was unanimous, and Chiron didn't even know if the demigod was a boy or a girl. The demigod's town wasn't even on the map! Well, it was if you used Google maps. Somehow Chiron had the insane idea that he, Nico, would travel with a satyr named Andrew to find the demigod.

"Nico, you have stayed here for quite some time, and I know you do things at your own pace and accessibility, but this is not a yes or no situation. You _will_ go to California, you _will_ travel with Andrew, and you _will_ find the demigod."

_How am I supposed to find them if no one knows who they are?_ Nico thought when Chiron dismissed him. Andrew paced outside the Big House wearing rainbow tights, bright orange loafers, a Camp Half-Blood shirt, and rainbow colored aviator glasses. His blond hair was grown long and pulled into dreadlocks with strands of orange ribbon mixed in. Black guy liner surrounded Andrew's green eyes, and Nico was practically blinded by bright colors and rainbows.

"So, what did Chiron say?" Andrew asked nervously. Andrew felt the same way towards Nico that Nico felt for Andrew. Neither liked each other. The satyr complained that Nico was too 'dark', 'uncivilized', and 'ruined his chakrahs' or something like that.

"We're going to the Oracle." Nico muttered solemnly. Andrew frowned and loped after Nico as he headed for the oracle's cave. Apparently the oracle knew what they needed because she was hobbling towards them before they got a quarter of the way to her home. She collapsed by their knees and spewed green mist out of her mouth. In a strange voice she said,

"Son of death and daughter of life,

Face the dilemma of eternal strife,

Staying loyal till the coming death,

For one will face their very last breath."

She had promptly fainted after that. Nico and Andrew dragged her towards to the Big House and thought about the slightly frightening prophecy.

It clearly didn't include Andrew. Unless satyrs could be girls. The daughter of life could be a goddess, a daughter of Demeter at Camp Half-Blood, the demigod they were going to fetch, the possibilities were endless. Which made everything more frustrating.

Nico figured that the prophecy was very clear in stating that one of them was going to die. He wasn't any more thrilled than earlier. The only good news was the fact that Chiron had gotten them train tickets to and from Camp Half-Blood to California. Nico didn't want to shadow travel that whole distance with his weakened body in Andrew's rainbow-stained hands.

Once they told Chiron the prophecy, the centaur shooed them off without a second thought. Nico figured it was because he had insulted Andrew, a some-what close relative to centaurs.

Time flew by as Nico and Andrew traveled to California. There was a train that went from New York to Los Angeles, California, nonstop. Overall, the whole ride took three days. It was torture. Being in a crowded train with Andrew didn't help lighten Nico's mood. He had traveled around the US after the war, going from camp to camp, and every time he neared the Los Angeles area, he felt a strange pull tug him towards some unknown place. Often times he had to smack himself to keep from running off.

Nico could tell that he was going straight towards the unknown source.

They weren't actually going to LA; a small town called Brentwood was their real destination. It was up north of LA, and was about a five hour drive. Nico planned on shadow traveling there without wasting too much energy and taxi fare. Depending on where they landed, Nico and Andrew would walk the rest of the way.

Sadly, they couldn't barge into the demigod's school and tell him/her that he/she was a demigod. No, this person was _homeschooled._ Unless they wanted to break into a house, they wouldn't be able to crash a school like every other new recruit. This was where Andrew came in. Chiron didn't even know where in Brentwood the demigod lived, so Andrew was in charge of sniffing out the culprit of Nico's misfortune. It was all a little sketchy for him. Of course, Nico was the king of being sketchy.

"Andrew, where are we going?" He asked once they found Brentwood's town hall. The satyr wore jeans, converse, and a plain white t-shirt, an outfit that Nico considered an improvement. Andrew, however, was grumpy about the whole outfit and kept chewing on telephone poles and trash.

"I don't know exactly."

Nico frowned. The strange pull was stronger than ever. He wondered if the satyrs felt the same way about demigods.

"That way!" Andrew pointed in the opposite direction of where Nico's pull was coming from. Although it was against Chiron's order, Nico couldn't help himself.

"You go ahead, I'll catch up." He told the satyr. Andrew just shrugged and hobbled off. Nico was slightly sad that Andrew didn't care where he went. He brushed it off and followed the direction of the pull.

Nico wasn't really sure why he followed the pull. It tugged him into weird places like through an outdoor shopping mall and under a kid's playground structure. He finally decided that he was loosing sanity. That was the only solution.

_I'm a mental idiot. Only someone who was insane would have the burning desire to go some place strange and most likely dangerous._

When the pull suddenly disappeared in a random park, Nico grew suspicious. The park was abandoned save for a single person gardening. The flowers around the person were colorful and plentiful. Something that never happened when Nico was around. He cautiously walked up to her—he decided the person was a she—and peeked at her face.

The girl turned to look at him before Nico could get an image of her face. She glared at him apprehensively and quickly stood up from her crouch. Her face was coated in dirt and mud, just like how Leo was with his machines—except he was always covered in oil.

"Who're you?" She asked, not friendly yet not hostile. Her green eyes were curious as they glared at Nico, and she brushed mounds of wavy brown hair out of her face. He was slightly flustered. Usually people felt his dark aura and backed off.

"Who're you?" He returned the question.

"Uh uh, not gonna work. Tell me who _you_ are."

He couldn't help but roll his eyes. Who did she think she was talking to? The new neighbor across the street? Nico mentally snorted.

"I'm Nico."

"Well then, it's nice to meet you Nico."

"Aren't you going to tell me your name?"

"Nope!" She said cheerily with a grin, which was really irritating. He gritted his teeth and turned around to walk away. Nico wasn't even sure why he had wasted his time. Andrew was probably with the new demigod already. This girl was just some random mortal who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

That all changed when the hellhounds attacked.

**_Ever:_**

Ever was having a jolly good day until that Nico kid showed up. He was a little freaky with his disheveled black hair and gloomy black eyes. With his sleepy bags and skinny pale body. That strange feeling of death around him made her want to curl up in a ball and hibernate all winter, which made no sense considering it was the beginning of July.

Then came the giant monster dogs with the bad breath. They ran into the park with slobber falling like waterfalls out of their snarling mouths, and froth flew every where. Ever would have been thoroughly disgusted if not for the paralyzing fear.

There was a whole pack of them—about eight. They had pitch black fur and glowing yellow eyes; just their body was seven feet tall. Their claws were like small knives, and their teeth were blood-stained and feral. That strange Nico kid pulled out a giant black sword and started charging the mutant wolves. She had to resist the urge to yell, "ARE YOU INSANE?!"

Turns out she was the insane one. Nico parred the monster's teeth and claws like an olympic pro. He finally managed to get a hit on the beast, and it suddenly dissolved. It _dissolved._ What kind of possibly-man-eating beast _dissolves_ when you hit it? That was just plain stupid.

As Nico turned another wolf into dust, an idea came to Ever.

_What if I help out and throw things at the wolves?_ She thought with a satisfied smirk. If the monsters just dissolved when they got hit, doesn't that mean she could throw a stone at them? Ever decided to test her theory. She loaded a large stone into her hand-held slingshot and launched it at the closest wolf.

Not her smartest theory.

The wolf barely even felt it. It turned its beady yellow eyes towards her and snarled. Ever gulped.

_There goes my theory…_

The next thing she threw was her shoe. The monster ate it up like it was Ever's favorite Krispy Kreme donut. It growled and inched closer as she inched backwards. Drops of spit fell on her face, and once again Ever felt disgusted.

"Uh, Nico?" Ever called nervously. Hopefully that sword-wielding wacko would be able to save her because honestly, she was all out of ideas. The wolf lunged, and Ever cringed. She was expecting the pain, but it never came. Ever opened her eyes to see Nico huffing and puffing next to a pile of monster dust.

"Are you alright?" He asked stiffly. The guy was breathing heavily and quickly put his sword in a sheath that she hadn't noticed earlier.

"Yeah, I'm good." Ever said with a sigh of relief. She couldn't help adding, "I was only attacked by giant mutant wolves. No biggie."

Nico snorted and walked over. He held out a hand for her, and Ever suddenly realized that she was crouched on the grass. When had that happened? She took his hand and heaved herself up.

"You saw them?" Nico said with a grunt.

"Well duh I saw them! Unless I'm dreaming…" Ever contemplated this. What if she _was_ dreaming? This was definitely the most vivid dream—and the strangest—Ever had ever had (ha, Ever had ever had). To make sure, she pinched herself then Nico.

"Ow?" Nico said, sounding more like he was asking a question. Ever rolled her eyes.

"You know, just had to make sure I wasn't having a dream."

Nico nodded. Suddenly, this weird blond kid—seriously, what's with all the weird people these days—with dreadlocks hobbled over and stared at Nico in surprise.

"What are _you_ doing here?" The green-eyed kid asked. Actually, the boy didn't look like a kid. As she said earlier, he was blond haired and green eyed with his hair in dreadlocks. He limbed a lot, and he had orange ribbons in his hair. Horns curled out of his head, and a large goatee covered his chin.

_Horns? Why in the world is he wearing horns?_

"I could say the same for you." Nico grumbled, apparently not happy to see the man/boy—Ever wasn't sure if she should call the new person a man or a boy.

"Seriously, I thought you were going somewhere else!"

"I thought you were looking for the demigod."

"I am! That's the demigod!" The boy/man pointed at her, which was really weird because she was definitely _not_ a demigod. That just made no sense.

Nico apparently believed the boy/man because he stared at me in surprise. "_She's_ the demigod?" He asked. The boy/man nodded.

"I've been sniffing her out. Went around in circles for a while, but I eventually found her."

"You're sure?"

"Yes!"

Nico glanced at Ever. "Well, I guess coming here wasn't a mistake."

"Um…okay. Confused person over here." Ever commented. She was slightly irked by their cryptic talk of demigods and sniffing people.

"I'm Andrew." The boy/man said with a smile as he held out his hand. Ever shook it cautiously. "And you are?"

"Taylor Swift."

Andrew's eyes widened, and Nico snorted. First off, Ever wasn't one to tell strangers her name. That was just asking for trouble. Besides, Nico had a freaking _sword_ and Andrew said he _sniffed her out._ That was just plain creepy, strange, and weird.

"Well, er, _Taylor_, mind if we talk?" Andrew asked. Suspicion immediately aroused. What did he mean, talk? Ever suddenly became worried about being the only sane person in the park.

"Sure. Shoot."

While Andrew cleared his throat to speak, Ever patted her pockets to see if she had her iPhone on her. Apparently she didn't, the one time when she actually needed it.

"Brace yourself, this is going to sound weird."

"Puh-lease, you just finished talking about sniffing people. I think I'm prepared."

Nico snorted and covered his mouth to keep Andrew from hearing his laugh. The boy/man blushed crimson and cleared his throat again before saying, "Anyway, we're here to tell you about your lineage. Your missing parent, I mean."

Ever immediately started paying attention. For years she had tried to figure out who her real parents were. The fact that these two knew she was missing them made her think.

_Are they __stalkers__?!_

"You're what we call a demigod. Half god, half mortal. Basically one of the Greek gods had you with whoever your parent is."

"So what you're saying is, one of my parents was a Greek god from myths?"

"Yeah!"

Ever was silent. Yup, these two were definitely insane. If they thought she would believe that, they were delusional. There was _no way_ she would believe them. Andrew seemed to realize what she was thinking because he frowned and turned towards Nico.

"She doesn't believe us." He told the sword-boy. Nico rolled his eyes.

"Look, I know it's hard to believe, but Andrew is right." Nico told her. His black eyes stared at her with sincerity, and Ever felt slightly compelled to believe him. "Andrew, show her."

The boy/man sighed and pulled down his pants.

_NO I DON'T WANT TO SEE THIS—oh my gosh._

Andrew had goat legs. Literally, goat legs. Hooves and all. His legs had curly blond hair all over, and his hooves were black. Andrew shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny.

"Wow. You're a satyr." Ever muttered. Maybe those two were telling the truth…

"Finally! No one ever guesses it right!" Andrew said in triumph. "Look, do you believe us now?"

"How about no."

Nico and Andrew both sighed simultaneously. They glanced at each other, then at Ever. She felt dread settle on her heart. Suddenly, Nico grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder. The breath was knocked out of her as he started running towards the edge of the park.

It was happening. After reading so much adventure novels, Ever was finally getting kidnapped. Of course, she didn't realize how scary and frustrating it really was when it actually happened.

"Let me DOWN!" She howled at the top of her lungs. Her fists pounded against Nico's back, and she felt him strain under her weight. Unfortunately, Ever weighted almost nothing. Like the boy who carried her off, she was almost all skin and bones. No one really understood why; Ever always had the appetite of an elephant and was lazy like a sloth. "I swear my mom is a LAWYER!"

Ever didn't hear Nico's reply. She was too busy freaking out about the fact that they had melted into a shadow.

**_Nico:_**

After the shadow jump, the new demigod had been pretty shaken up.

"WHAT just HAPPENED." She howled when Nico threw her onto the ground. Her eyes were wide, and Nico couldn't tell if her hands were shaking or not.

"It's called shadow travel." Nico told her. She took deep breaths and looked like she was about to faint. Most people did on their first shadow travel. "So, now do you believe us?"

"How could I not? I just shadow traveled to In-N-Out Burger."

Nico looked around, and sure enough, they were right across the street from a place called In-N-Out Burger. He had no idea what that was.

"What's In-N-Out?" He asked with a frown. It couldn't' be that good. He had never heard of it. The girl, however, widened her eyes in surprise and looked shocked.

"You, my friend, must be from the stone ages." She said in shock. "In-N-Out is a gift from the _gods_. Who apparently are real."

"Then I guess we've gotta try it out!" Andrew said with a grin. Nico groaned. Sure, he was hungry, but he wanted to hurry up and get back to Camp Half-Blood.

"Yes, we MUST!" The girl jumped up and pumped her fist in the air. Her face set with determination, and she posed like a superhero.

_This is going to be a long trip._

"We must depart to In-N-Out!"

The girl marched to the restaurant, and Andrew followed close behind. Nico sighed before he followed suit.

The girl sat Nico and Andrew down at a booth before she went to go order. She only gave them a minute to choose what they wanted. Nico had only managed to tell her what hamburger he wanted before she shooed him away saying, "I shall teach you the ways of In-N-Out Burger."

Nico and Andrew sat at the seat across from each other for fifteen minutes, glaring, before the girl game back with trays of food.

"Now you shall taste the amazing-ness of In-N-Out!" She plopped next to Nico and distributed the food, keeping two plain hamburgers and a tray of fries for herself. Surprisingly, she had managed to get his order perfectly. A cheeseburger with ketchup, mustard, and pickles. The fries were strange though. They were thin and long, with some weird peach sauce. Nico had to resist sniffing it.

"That's In-N-Out sauce." She said as she gobbled down her hamburgers. Andrew, too, devoured the food she gave him. Nico cautiously took a bite of the hamburger.

_I think I've died and gone to heaven._

Those burger and fries were gone before you could say 'In-N-Out'.

"See? I told you!" The girl stated triumphantly as Nico searched for more food. He had too admit, those were good. _Really_ good. He didn't say anything, though. She would probably puff up like a balloon if he agreed.

"It was good enough." He grudgingly said. "Now, who are you?"

The girl licked her finger before she spoke. "I'm Everett Jeremy Elwood. Ever for short. And you are?"

"I already told you."

"Nu uh! Your _full_ name?"

"Why would you want to know that?" He asked in confusion. Nico had never been asked for his full name. Usually he gave it right off the bat. If he didn't they usually figured it out from gossip at camp.

"Knowing someone's full name gets to know them better. For example, if your middle name was Eugene then I'd definitely understand why you act so gloomy."

"Who says I wasn't born gloomy?"

Ever gave him a withering look. "No one's born gloomy, you dumbo."

Nico wasn't sure if 'dumbo' was supposed to be an insult. "Nico Di Angelo."

"Ah. I get it now." She said with a wry smile.

_I honestly doubt it._

"So, where're we going?" Ever asked with a sigh of contentment.

"Los Angeles Union Station." Andrew said as he swallowed the french fry tray. "We'll take a train to New York Penn Station. From there we'll take a taxi to Long Island."

"We're going to _New York?_"

"Yep. Do you need to tell your mom?"

"Oh. Yeah. Them."

"_Them?_"

Ever hesitated. "My adopted parents."

She was adopted. Nico did not see that coming. When Ever had said her mom was a lawyer, he had been able to rule out all the goddesses. Now any god or goddess could be her parent.

"Do you know who your real parent was?" Andrew asked slowly. Ever shook her head.

"Naw. The only thing my parent did was name me. Apparently they wanted a boy, so I became Everett Jeremy Elwood."

"Elwood is your real parent's surname?"

"Yup. My adopted parents are the Yams. Everett Jeremy Yam. That just sounds so _strange._"

That was a little strange. Ever seemed bitter towards her adopted parents. Instead of keeping their last name she used the parent that left her's name. One would have thought it was the other way around.

"We should hurry before I order another meal." Andrew said with a burp. Ever grinned when Nico snorted.

"I wouldn't mind more food—" She started. Nico cut her off when he pushed her out of the booth.

"Let's go."

"Gosh, Senior Rude. No need to push."

The three of them walked out of the restaurant before Nico could cave in and suggest getting more food. They had to pause and ask for directions a couple times before they finally got to the station. The train was about to leave, but they managed to get on before it left the station.

_When I get back, Chiron will pay for this._

**So, I hope you enjoyed! Like and review!**

**Hayden: Wait a second, why aren't I in my story?!**

**Me: I paused it so I could write this one! =D**

**Hayden: Why? Aren't I awesome enough for you?**

**Me: If you weren't awesome I wouldn't be talking to you right now -_-**

**Hayden: True, true. What about Sonic?**

**Sonic: What about me?**

**Hayden: SONIC WE'VE BEEN KIDNAPPED FROM OUR OWN STORY**

**Sonic: We have? I kind of like this one better...**

**Hayden: ****_Why?!_**** We don't even exist in this story!**

**Sonic: Exactly. It's sort of like we're reading a book as the author writes it.**

**Me: That's exactly what's happening, weirdos.**

**ANYWHO. Like and review! Any comments, questions, or concerns? Thanks for reading!**


	3. The Train of Doom

**SONG OF THE POST:**

**Lightning**

**by Alex Goot**

**_Ever:_**

The first day was probably the worst. Andrew and Nico fought about almost everything, and Ever kept getting fart bombed by the satyr. At first glance, Andrew seemed like a nice guy, but he was deadly. _Very_ deadly. His burp and fart bombs were like mini-explosions to the senses. Ever was pretty sure that she'd loose her sense of smell before the trip was over.

The food wasn't too bad; much like plane food, most of it was stale. They made a mean bacon burger, though. Probably the most nerve-racking part of the first day was the fact that she had to share a room with Nico and Andrew. The satyr talked in his sleep and fart bombed unintentionally. The Gloom Guy moved around in his sleep and groaned like he was having nightmares. Ever was tempted to wake him up, but Nico always seemed grumpy when Andrew woke him, so she just left it.

The second day was probably the coolest—yet scariest—day of her life. It wasn't the fact that the train served snails, or that they had free movies, no, it was the fact that they were attacked by cheerleaders with a mechanical leg and a donkey leg.

They had been sitting calmly at the restaurant car when the whole train shuttered.

"What was that?" Ever said cautiously. She'd seen the movies; the train always shuttered before it exploded. Nico frowned, apparently thinking the same thing. He stood up and slowly put a hand on his sword hilt. Andrew kept on munching his soda can.

"C'mon guys, it's nothing. These sort of things happen all the—" Andrew started. He was interrupted by the screams in the train car behind them. Nico didn't hesitate as he unsheathed his sword and jumped onto the table, stepping on her burger in the process. Ever would have been angry, except the screams got louder, and she was grateful that Nico knew how to swing that thing.

"If I die now, I just want to say—" Ever started. "It's all your fault."

Nico looked down at her and gave her a withering look before the door between cars exploded. Gloom Guy was knocked off the table and fell right on top of Ever. She shoved him off, and screamed when she came face-to-face with a vampire cheerleader.

_I knew this trip was going to suck!_ Ever thought as she scrambled out of the booth. Andrew squealed like a scared little girl and kicked a vampire cheerleader in the face. It howled and bared its face. Or, _her_ fangs. A dozen vampire-fied cheerleaders poured into the cabin, all of them girls. Their curled hair and make-up coated faces clashed with their pointy fangs and mismatched legs.

"_Empousai._" Nico said bitterly. "Be careful."

_Oh, it never occurred to me to be careful._

Nico swung his sword professionally, and the first two empousai disintegrated into monster dust. Ever made a mental note to ask Nico about his magical sword. He cut down two more before the remaining eight hissed and lunged as one. Nico jumped back and grabbed Ever's arm. He tugged her behind him as they ran into the next train car. The sound of horses, machines, and vampires followed.

"How in the world does your sword do that?" She managed to ask Nico as they kept running.

"Stygian iron. An indestructible metal that sends monsters to Tartarus."

"Tartarus?"

"An abyss where the wicked are sent."

An explosion came from behind them, and Ever's ears ringed. Both of them were thrown into a pair of seats next to them, and she felt the train teeter. It groaned angrily, and Ever's breath was knocked out of her when Nico's whole body crashed on top of her. Screams could be heard in the background as the train literally fell into its side. Instead of stopping there, the train kept rolling like someone was kicking it. Nico and Ever tumbled along the walls as it rolled, every once in a while bonking heads or kicking the other. When the train finally moaned to a halt, Ever and Nico lay on the roof—now the floor—and breathed heavily. The world around Ever swirled and twirled uncontrollably.

"That was…exhilarating." Ever muttered unsteadily. Nico chuckled bitterly and patted her shoulder.

"You took that well." He murmured.

"I'm just that awesome."

Nico rolled his eyes and groaned before sitting up. He rubbed his head and looked at her. "We better find Andrew."

Ever nodded and sat up. Dizziness overwhelmed her, and she crashed back to the floor/roof. Nico smirked and stood up, once again lending a hand to her. She frowned and took his hand. He helped her up, but she teetered and started to fall. He grabbed her, and she threw her arms around him to keep herself steady.

_This is awkward._

Nico blushed and cleared his throat. Ever loosed her arms and stood up, adjusting her shirt.

"Let's go." Nico said, clearing his throat once more. The blush was still on his cheeks when Andrew came galloping their way.

"Nico! Ever! Are you guys alright?!" He howled.

"We're just dandy." Ever told him with a grin. Nico rolled his eyes. "Ya know, other than the fact that I'm covered in bruises."

She and Nico has large purple marks from rolling all over metal and hitting hard objects. Gloom Guy looked down and grimaced as if he had just noticed the bright bruises.

The sound of cackling appeared, and Ever's face paled. The empousai were back. Nico's face set with something like determination, and he looked Ever straight in the eyes when he said, "Run."

Run they did. Nico ran straight at the glass windows and shattered them with his sword. Andrew ran right after him, and Ever had to get over her shock before she obeyed. The train had died by the edge of a forest, and Nico made a beeline for the trees. Andrew and Ever didn't think twice as they followed him. Before long, Ever's legs felt like jelly. Sweat trickled down her face, and she was puffing heavily. The train was far behind them, but Nico didn't stop running. Although he was huffing just as heavily as she, he kept going.

"Nico! We're safe!" Ever called to him as she halted to a stop. Her legs were jell-o; she couldn't run any farther. After sucking in deep breaths, Ever collapsed under a tree and calmed her aching body. Adrenaline raced through her veins, and she had the strange urge to laugh and cry at the same time.

The two boys paused, and Andrew collapsed near Ever. Gloom Guy put a hand to his forehead and leaned tiredly against a tree.

"Okay, I guess we are." Nico said with a sigh as he slowly inched onto the floor. "We'll take a little break, then I'll shadow travel _far_ away."

"No! You're _way_ too tired for that!" Andrew argued. Nico shook his head.

"I'm fine."

"You don't sound fine." Ever told him. She stood up and walked shakily to him on tired legs. "I don't know how you do it, but it seems like it takes a lot of energy from you. We are staying here until _I_ think you're ready."

Nico stared at her incredulously as she plopped down next to him and glared at him. Her eyes sent a simple challenge: 'disobey me and you shall feel my wrath'. He silently nodded and stared at his hands.

"So, I've been wondering." Ever started conversationally, tying to get his mind off shadow traveling. "Who's your godly parent?"

Nico hesitated. "Hades."

"You mean like the god of the Underworld?"

"The same one." Nico said, his tone slightly bitter.

"That's cool." Ever replied, shooting a grin his way. A small blush creeped onto his pale cheeks.

"Really? You aren't…scared?"

"Of what?" Ever looked at him in confusion.

_What is there to be scared of? The Teletubbies are scarier than he is._

Nico stared at her, like she should already know the answer. Which, of course, she didn't.

"You know, the whole Underworld thing, raising the dead—"

"You can raise the dead?"

"Well, I can _summon_ them—"

"Cool!"

Nico glared at her suspiciously. "Do you really think so?"

"Well yeah!"

Nico was silent. Andrew watched the conversation awkwardly. Ever wondered if she said anything wrong.

"Let's go, I don't let being this close to the wreck." Nico mumbled after a brief pause.

_Does he always push himself so hard?_

"No, seriously, just chill." Ever commanded. He had started to stand up, but she grabbed his shirt and yanked him down. "If you push yourself so hard, none of us are gonna be fine."

"I said I'm _fine_."

"Nu uh! The last time we shadow traveled you were a little hazy."

Nico looked startled. "You noticed?"

"Of course I did! It's a little hard not to notice when your companion is turning invisible."

Gloom Guy nodded, and the forest was silent.

**_Nico:_**

Nico was now officially shocked. First Ever seemed so nonchalant about sitting next to a kid who could summon zombies—she even seemed a little bit excited—, then she gave orders that he actually _followed_—he wasn't expecting her to be so forceful when it came to him shadow traveling—, and now she demanded that he teach her to fight with a sword.

It had all happened so fast.

One minute he was chopping a random tree to pieces, the next minute Ever's in front of him demanding to get lessons. Her arms were crossed, and her eyes glistened with determination. Her facial expression was one that said: 'say no and you die'.

"No." He told her forcefully. Ever wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Aw, c'mon!"

"No."

"But what if those empousai come back?"

"We shadow travel."

"What if you shadow travel right into a mob of monsters and we can't escape?"

"We die."

"C'mon, Nico!" Ever whined pitifully. "Please please please please pleeeeeease?"

Nico stopped what he was doing and looked her right in the eyes. "If you want to learn, it can't be because you think it's cool. You have to actually _want_ to learn."

Ever smirked. "Of course I want to learn! Haven't you been listening?"

Nico rolled his eyes and said, "Fine, I'll teach you."

"YES!" She howled and starting doing some strange victory dance. The dance included swinging her arms everywhere, running in place, and nodding rapidly.

_What in the world is she doing?_

Ever stopped dancing before he could voice his thoughts.

"So, what do we do first?" She asked him eagerly. Nico frowned.

"Right now?"

"Duh!"

_I was hoping I'd get some time to __actually figure out__ how to teach someone._

Nico had never taught anyone. Probably because he hated physical contact and everyone was, more or less, afraid of him. Ever, however, didn't seem frightened at all by his appearance or 'gloom', as she called it.

"Well, uh, first you need to be balanced." Nico held his sword in front of him and crouched like he was about to pounce. "You need to be able to keep your sense of balance while in a fight, or else small movements will topple you."

"Balance, got it." Ever copied him, but her stance was shaky and unnatural. Nico rolled his eyes and walked over to her.

"Don't go so deep. You'll get tired too easily if you focus on looking cool. Rest all your weight on your back leg so its easier to lunge and jump out of the way."

"Back leg, got it." She straightened up a little and leaned backwards slightly. It was a little bit comical to see her try and look like a martial artist.

"You don't need your arms up the high. You're not a boxer." He told her, smiling slightly. "When you hold a sword, depending on its type, you'll need to keep it level with your stomach and chest area."

Ever nodded and moved her hands from in front of her face. Nico pushed her. She fell.

"What was that for?!" She complained from the ground.

"You weren't balanced." Nico had to keep himself from laughing aloud. Instead, he allowed a single smirk to grace his mouth. Ever rolled her eyes and stood up, immediately getting back in position. "Remember, all your weight on your back leg, keep your hands level to your stomach and chest."

They went through that drill a couple times until Ever no longer toppled over like an empty water bottle. The sun was starting to disappear.

"You should set up camp." Nico mumbled to Ever.

"_I_ should set up camp?" She asked incredulously.

"I'm teaching you to fight, so _you_ have to set up camp."

Ever grumbled and searched for Nico's backpack. He lay under a tree, waiting for her to get everything ready. It didn't occur to Nico that Ever didn't know how to set up a camp until a half hour passed. He walked over to Ever and watched as she hopelessly smashed rocks together for a fire.

"I have matches you know." Nico told her with a grin as he threw her the pack. She glared at him and stuck out her tongue. "Have you done _anything_ other than build a fire pit?"

Ever frowned and shook her head. "I have no idea what I'm supposed to do."

Nico sighed and set up the sleeping bags as Ever started a flame with the matches.

"BURN MY MINION OF DARKNESS! BUUURN!" He heard her exclaim once the fire started.

"Why is the fire a minion of darkness?" Andrew asked in confusion. Nico jumped. He had forgotten the satyr was with them.

"Because fire burns, and it hurts. Sure, it's beautiful and keeps us warm, but it only helps us because of its deadly nature." Ever said seriously as she stared into the fire. "BURN MY LOVELIES!"

Nico rolled his eyes and moved to sit next to her. He handed her a pot, a spatula, a water bottle, and a bag of rice. "Now, get started."

"On what?" Ever asked in confusion as she took the items from him.

"Cooking."

"_WHAT_?" She exclaimed in surprise. Her wide eyes looked at him, and he smiled evilly.

"Setting up also includes dinner."

Ever pouted and thought for a moment before she got to work. The first thing she did was pour water into the pot and dump the whole entire rice bag. She wrapped her hand in piles of cloth and stuck the pot over the fire. Nico laid on his sleeping bag while he waited for Ever to call dinner.

"Uh…Nico?" Ever asked nervously ten minutes later. He sat up and eyed the food she had made.

It was absolutely horrible.

The rice was burnt to a crisp and bubbled slightly.

_What—what's that floating in there?_

Ever seemed to read his mind because she said, "A fly was annoying me, so I hit it, and it fell into the pot…"

_That's…gross._

"So you can't cook." Nico asked, although it was more of a statement than a question. Ever nodded solemnly. "What _can_ you do?"

"I'm good at gardening. And I play five different instruments. I also dance pretty good."

_Like those things help._

"But, I will learn how to cook, start a fire, and set up a camp! All while learning how to sword fight!" Ever exclaimed with a grin. She pumped her fist in the air and gave Nico a thumbs up. He was slightly astonished. Ever was just so…cheerful. She never seemed to give up. Not only did she not give up, she shot for the stars. Nothing seemed too big in Ever's eyes. Nico realized that he respected her for that. Even—_liked_ her for it.

And that was slightly stressing.

If he opened up his heart for a friend, it'd be crushed like always. Like with Bianca, Percy, Will, everyone. It wasn't worth it. Nico pushed away his friendly feelings for Ever and focused on the most important thing: not being poisoned by her food.

**_Ever:_**

Ever was in a pretty good mood. Her rice didn't turn out poisonous, Nico had given her their first sword lesson—as if it could be _called_ a lesson; they didn't even use swords—, he had taught her how to set up camp, and she was sleeping under the stars. Only one thing could have made the night better: s'mores.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T HAVE S'MORES?!" She hollered when Nico broke the news.

"Well, this isn't exactly a friendly camping trip—"

"SO?! You can't just go on an adventure and _NOT_ pack s'mores!"

"Yeah, _Nico_." Andrew added as he stuck his tongue out at Gloom Guy.

"You're the one that said sugar made you hyper!" Nico complained.

"WHAT?" Ever howled. "How could you Andrew?! Sugar is SUPPOSED to make you hyper! That's what it was _made_ for!"

"Yeah, _Andrew_." Nico copied exactly what Andrew had done, and they both glared nuclear bombs at each other.

"Well, now I'll just have to go to bed!" Ever said in exasperation. She threw her hands in the air and moaned. Nico looked slightly confused.

"Isn't that what we're _supposed_ to be doing? When did s'mores come up, anyway?"

"Nico, Nico, Nico. S'mores always come up. They are the essence of camping."

"Just go to bed!" Andrew said with a groan as he curled up on his sleeping bag. Nico and Ever both eyed the remaining sleeping bag.

"You can have it."

"You can have it." They both said simultaneously.

"It's fine."

"It's fine." Once again, they spoke together. Ever couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled in her chest. She laughed aloud and watched as Nico chuckled in amusement.

"Seriously, s'all yours." Ever said as she leaned against a tree. Nico frowned.

"No, you go ahead. I'm used to sleeping this way." He too leaned against a tree. Ever shrugged and scooted into the sleeping bag. She was grateful. Nico was more gentlemanly than he thought he was. She smiled as she though of Gloom Guy's silent kindness. Although he was rough on the edges, Ever knew he was a good guy.

**_?:_**

The preparations were going smoothly. He watched as his plan unfolded. Gleefully, he patrolled the many cages in his possession, most of them filled with his quarry. Crying echoed throughout the building, and he grinned joyfully. One cage caught his eyes, and he walked over to inspect it.

"Hello, little demigod." He said the the inhabitant of the cage. "I hope you're finding your room satisfactory."

The wretch growled and spat at him venomously. He frowned and signaled for his guards to take the prisoner away.

"It seems this demigod needs to be taught a lesson." He told his minions. The fox-headed monsters snarled and dragged the screaming demigod away. He cackled devilishly.

"Ah, I will soon rule, you shall see." He told the sky. "Enough of standing in the dark. My name will soon be the most feared out of all. Kronos and Gaea are nothing compared to me, young demigods. Prepare for _war_."

**WHOOP WHOOP! Thank you all, beautiful reviewers! You make me so happy! I wrote this as fast as I could xD Keep it up! The more reviews, the more I write!**

**Hayden: Are you threatening your viewers?**

**Me: No! Of course not! It's called motivation.**

**Hayden: Same difference.**

**Sonic: Actually, they're two different concepts-**

**Hayden: Be quite Mr. Smarty-Pants.**

**Me: Don't be so mean, Hayden!**

**Ever: Yeah, ****_Hayden_****. Don't be so mean!**

**Hayden: What is ****_she _****doing here! This is Sonic and I's moment! She gets the story, we get the chat, that's how it goes!**

**Sonic: Hayden, I'm not sure it really matters-**

**Hayden: OF COURSE IT MATTERS!**

**Ever: Ha! I'm just that awesome; I get the story ****_and_**** the chat!**

**Me: You're only here because I want you to enjoy life before it all goes south.**

**Ever: ...**

**Hayden: ...that's cold.**

**Sonic: What's your plan? 0-0**

**Me: Evil things, evil things. MWAHAHA**

**Ever: ...**

**Hayden: ...**

**Sonic: ...**

**Hayden: I'll grab the rope while you two handcuff her to a chair.**

**Ever: I like how you think.**

**Thank you for reading! Follow, review, like, and all the fun stuff! xD PEACE OUT**


	4. The Kidnapping

**Sorry for the annoying wait! There was no internet where I vacationed. Enjoy, and keep those reviews coming' xD**

**_Nico:_**

The days went by slowly. Nico woke up to Ever's failed breakfast attempts, Andrew's meditating, and a gallon of water dumped on him. Then, Ever forced him to teach her the 'art' of sword fighting. Afterwards they grabbed lunch at some well-known chain restaurant and Nico shadow traveled away. He usually stayed unconscious for hours. Ever always had lunch's leftovers ready for him. Nico and Andrew then went to the nearest town to see where they were and how much longer they had until Camp Half-Blood was in their sights. Five days passed before they got to camp's borders.

"Here we are, Camp Half-Blood!" Andrew exclaimed as he danced past Thalia's tree. Nico leaned heavily against Ever, and the two of them stumbled up the hill. Fatigue washed over him, but he forced himself to stay awake. He wanted to make sure Ever got safely to the Big House. And Chiron still needed to be destroyed.

"Is this camp?" Ever asked in awe as they went under an archway that led to Camp Half-Blood. Nico nodded.

"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood." The monstrous centaur said as he walked over on hoofed feet. "I am Chiron. Who might this lovely young lady be?"

Ever adjusted her grip on Nico and grinned. "I'm Everett Jeremy Elwood. Ever for short."

"I am very pleased to meet you, Ever. I must say, you are handling my appearance very well. Have you, perhaps, encountered any monsters in the past?"

"Well, one. On the train ride over here we were attacked by empoosay or something like that."

"They were empousai, Mr. Chiron sir." Andrew said politely. Nico and Ever both glared at the satyr.

_Why couldn't he be polite to us?_

"Ms. Elwood, how much has Nico and Andrew told you?" Chiron asked Ever. She frowned and thought for a moment before replying.

"Well, Greek gods are real, monsters are real, the gods had kids with mortals—hence the _demi_ in demigods—and I'm a demigod. Oh, and there's some really yummy stuff called ambrosia that heals demigods, but I can't have too much or I'll disintegrate very painfully."

"Everything of importance, then."

"Yup, basically."

Chiron took a deep breath and pointed to the black-haired figure walking towards them. "That is Mr. D, I'm sure Nico told you about him."

_Oops. I knew I forgot something…_

Mr. D walked up with a glass of coke and eyed Ever in complete uninterest. "I really don't see what the fuss was about." He said once Ever was thoroughly inspected. "Who are you, anyway?"

"I'm Everett Jeremy Elwood; Ever for short."

"Whoa, try saying that five times fast." Mr. D laughed at his own joke, and Ever rolled her eyes.

"I'm guessing you're Mr. D?"

He nodded and sipped his coke. Ever smiled and thrust out her hand.

"Nice to meet you!"

"I'm not _that_ friendly."

Ever shrugged and adjusted Nico. His consciousness seemed to be holding up, but he still felt a little shaky.

"Andrew, would you mind taking Ever to the Hermes cabin?" Chiron asked. The satyr nodded and started galloping off. Ever and Nico followed him slowly. When they got near the Hades cabin, however, he pushed himself away and started walking inside.

"Nico, where are you going?" Ever called to him somewhat nervously. He sighed.

"My cabin."

"But—I was kind of hoping you'd walk with me the whole way." She said with a slight blush. Nico stared.

_She wants to walk—with _**_me_**_?_

"What about Andrew?"

"I kind of lost him…"

He rolled his eyes; although he wouldn't admit it, Nico was very happy that Ever asked specifically for him. Even though she was loud and stubborn, there was something about her—

_No, it's nothing. I'm just making something out of nothing._

Nico smiled at Ever and nodded. She grinned and looped her arm around his.

"On to the whats-his-face cabin!"

"You mean the Hermes cabin?"

"What he said!"

Nico couldn't stop himself from snorting in amusement. A wry smile graced his face, and Nico felt like he could burst out laughing. Ever seemed to do that a lot; when he was around her he wanted to laugh more than ever before. He always thought it was hard to make him laugh. Ever somehow managed to ignore Nico's walls, beat up the heavily armed guards, and worm her way into his life. Not that he minded.

_I can actually see her beating up brain people, though. Which makes me want to laugh even more._

He somehow managed to keep in his feelings and manage a strait face.

When they got to the Hermes cabin, Nico stopped and gestured for her to go inside. Her face fell.

"You aren't gonna help me out?"

"All you need to do is get settled. The councilor can help you with that."

Ever nodded and watched as Nico walked off. Before he could get far, She yelled his name. He turned around, and she waved good-bye. Nico smiled when he saw her ecstatic grin.

He waved back.

Nico turned back towards his cabin only to find Percy and Piper gawking at him with slack jaws. They reminded him of fish-out-of-water.

"Nico…" Piper started with wide-eyes. "—who was that?"

The two of them stared at Nico as he mentally face-palmed.

"No one." He grumbled. Percy and Piper shared a look.

_Oh gods._

**_Ever:_**

The Hermes cabin was basically Awesome Central. Ever knocked hesitantly against the door when Nico was dragged away by a boy and a girl—she was surprised to find that she was actually _worried_ about him—and it opened with a _BANG_!

"Who're you?" A brown-haired boy asked with a silly grin.

"I'm new." Ever replied somewhat shyly. The boy rolled his eyes.

"Well _duh_. Your _name_, I mean."

Ever rolled her eyes. "I'm Everett Jeremy Elwood. Ever for short."

The boy whistled appreciatively. "Whoa, long name."

"Right? It's such a pain sometimes."

"Why do you add your middle name, then?"

"'Everett Elwood' just doesn't have the same effect."

"I like how you think."

The boy smirked and offered his hand for a fist bump. Ever grinned and bumped fists, sealing the eternal, manly bond.

"I'm Connor, Connor Stoll." The boy's blue eyes twinkled as he added, "The cabin councilor."

_Whew! That saved me a lot of awkward searching._

"You gonna let me in, or what?" Ever demanded jokingly. Connor opened the door, and she was shocked to see a dozen boys and a dozen girls with the same sly smirks and energetic eyes.

"I'm guessing you're all related." Ever couldn't help saying. They all laughed and swatted each other on the back.

"Most of us." Connor said from the other side of the cabin.

_How'd he get over there so fast…?_

Ever heard the door close behind her and turned to see Connor right there. She blinked and looking back towards the end of the cabin, where Connor sat on a bunk bed.

"Either you have an identical twin, or you're a really good magician."

Connor—the one behind her—laughed and pointed at the other Connor. "That's my older brother, Travis."

"Welcome to the Hermes cabin!" Travis exclaimed, grinning. A chorus of 'welcomes' came from the others, and Ever felt like she was right at home.

"We're out of bunks, so you'll have to share the floor with Travis."

"You let your own brother sleep on the floor?"

A boy, about Nico's age, sat on a sleeping bag in the corner of the cabin. His brown hair was long and shaved on the sides. The unshaved hair on the top of his head thrust forwards and blocked one of his blue eyes. He was probably the most handsome boy in the room. Well, he was until Ever noticed the tattoos all over his body.

_He looks like a tall Josh Hutcherson with a new hairdo and tattoos._

"Connor, what have I been telling you?" Tall Josh Hutcherson said with a roll of his eyes. "Call me Trey when you introduce newcomers."

Connor stuck his tongue out at 'Trey' and turned to Ever with a smirk. "This is _Trey_. He's a Roman son of Mercury. Apparently he wanted a 'change of scenery'."

Trey shrugged his tattooed shoulders and nodded. Travis—Connor's brother—pointed to a sleeping bag on the opposite side of Trey.

"That's where you'll sleep." He said. Ever walked over to is and plopped down tiredly. Although the floor was hard, she was used to these types of situations.

_Hopefully I'll enjoy life here. Hopefully._

**_Nico:_**

Being abducted by Percy and Piper was _not_ Nico's idea of fun. Percy and had his hand over his mouth, and Piper dragged him behind her.

_I should have seen this coming. Nothing good comes from friendship._

Percy and Piper somehow found a dark alleyway, which wasn't very smart considering he could shadow travel away. They seemed to realize that because Nico was whisked away into a brightly lit room.

_Where in Hades am I?_

He was about to say his mind when Percy spoke up:

"This is a super-cool, hidden room we found underneath the Hermes cabin. It's filled with pranking do-higgeys and whatnot." Percy said with a silly grin. Nico looked around, and sure enough, hundreds of fake fingers, clown noses, and hand buzzers littered the floor, walls, and shelves.

"Really Percy? _Do-higgeys?_" Piper snorted out. Percy pouted and crossed his arms.

"Hey, it's a word."

"Where? On Mars?"

Percy refused to answer, and Piper stuck her tongue out at him. Nico rolled his eyes at their childish behavior. Before he could squirm away, Piper and Percy stopped sticking tongues out at each other so Piper could drag Nico to a chair in the middle of the room. She pushed him down, and Percy shone a desk lamp right into Nico's eyes. He all of a sudden felt like he was being interrogated. Nico squinted and tried to glare at the two kidnappers.

"What are you—"

"Shh!" Piper put a finger on his mouth, and Nico stared at it cross-eyed. "We ask the questions here."

Percy angled the light so Nico had to squint even more.

"Now, who was that?" Piper questioned with a serious look on her face. Percy nodded and adjusted the lamp.

Nico was, honestly, slightly scared of Piper. Her no-nonsense face reminded him of Hades on Taco Tuesday (his dad really loved tacos; anything that stood in the way of Hades' tacos was obliterated). Nico had never seen this side of Piper. As stated earlier, it was slightly frightening.

"Who was who?" Nico countered innocently, slightly angry. Why were they making such a big deal out of it? He had only _waved_. It wasn't like he had actually _hugged_ her or anything. Next thing you know they'll lock him up in prison because he talked to someone voluntarily.

Piper rolled her eyes. "You know who I mean. That girl you escorted to the Hermes cabin."

_Were they following us…?_

"Ask your genie-with-a-lamp. He was supposed to bring her instead of me."

Percy was in the middle of adjusting the lamp when he paused and stared wide-eyed at Nico.

"That girl is the mystery demigod?" He exclaimed in surprise. "How do you know her, then?"

_Does he really not know? Figures._

"Because you had 'something to do', Chiron forced me to bring her to camp."

"Gods, I'm sorry Nico."

Piper tapped her foot impatiently as Nico glared in Percy's direction, which was hard to do considering that a blinding light was blocking Percy from his view.

"Who cares about that?" She said in irritation. "Percy, fix the lamp."

Percy nodded and adjusted the lamp. Then he frowned and glared at Piper. "Hey, why am I the lamp boy? I want to ask questions!" He whined. Piper sighed and gave him a withering look. She gestured for him to ask one, but Percy clearly didn't have a question to ask. Nico rolled his eyes when Piper stuck her tongue out at Percy.

"Now, back to business." She said with her no-funny-business face. She leaned in close; so close that Nico could smell her minty breath. The smell, combined with the bright light, made him want to hurl and say anything they asked just so he could escape.

_It's not like I have anything to hide. I probably won't see her again now that she has a cabin._

"Her name is Everett, but she goes by Ever." Nico started hesitantly. "Andrew and I found her in a small town in California. She was adopted, and her mom is a lawyer. Ever really likes marshmallows and is a horrible cook. Happy now?"

Nico stood up to leave, but Piper stopped him. "But what is she to _you_?"

"Nothing!" He snapped angrily. Piper's face softened, but he only got angrier. Why couldn't they just mind their own business? Who cares if he finally found someone he actually enjoyed being with? He wasn't going to see her again. She wouldn't want to see him. "She means _nothing_! I will never see her again! Why would she want to? Once she makes friends with the Hermes cabin, she'll forget all about me!"

_Just like everyone else._

With that said, Nico stormed out of the basement and melted into the shadows.

**_Ever:_**

Ever woke up early in the morning and set off to find Nico. Well, first she went to breakfast. The Hermes kids were awesome; Ever fit in perfectly. They stuffed their faces with food, and after that, everything else. She left the dining hall with eggs in her nose, bacon in her hair, and BBQ sauce in her nose.

Once breakfast was over, Ever washed up and wandered around camp until she found the Hades cabin. Although she got a couple strange looks, Ever knocked loudly on the door. She waited, and when no one answered, she knocked again.

_Maybe he left…_

"Are you looking for someone?" A voice said from behind her. Ever turned and came face-to-face with the boy that kidnapped Nico the night before.

"Hey, you're the guy that stole Nico!" She exclaimed and aimed an accusing finger at his face. The boy blinked, and a grin slowly appeared. He looked like he was about 20. Black hair jutted out of his head and looked like it hadn't been combed in days. His sea-green eyes looked at her happily, and Ever felt like he knew who she was. Which was not a pleasant feeling.

"You're the demigod from California!" He said loudly and happily. Ever took a step backwards. His over-friendliness was starting to creep her out.

"How do you know that?" She demanded suspiciously. Carefully, she made sure the knife from breakfast was still in her pocket. If everything went south, she'd be ready.

"Nico told me."

_He knows Nico? Maybe he'll be able to tell me where he is!_

Ever grinned and stuck out her hand for a shake. "I'm Everett Jeremy Elwood. Ever for short."

"Whoa, he didn't' mention that your name was so long. I'm Percy."

Percy shook her hand, and Ever tried to remember if Nico had mentioned someone called Percy.

_Percy, Percy…nope, no Percy. Then again, Nico never really told me anything about his life…_

"Nice to meet you, Percy! You wouldn't happen to know where Nico is, would you?"

"Yes, actually. I can show you!"

Percy started walking, and Ever hurried to catch up. She had a little bit of trouble when trying to keep up with him; he was reasonably taller than her. Although she wasn't short, she wasn't tall, either.

"So, why do you need Nico?" Percy asked curiously.

"He's teaching me how to use a sword. I'm guessing he forgot, but I'm not gonna let him off the hook that easily!"

Percy looked slightly surprised, but he grinned and gave her a thumbs up. Immediately, she saw a plan begin to hatch in the boy's brain. Ever, slightly wary, decided to get a better idea of who this Percy _really_ was.

"Hey Percy, who's your godly parent?"

"Poseidon, god of the seas."

"And earthquakes, floods, and droughts." Ever added. Percy frowned.

"Huh. Oh yeah. I forgot about that."

Ever rolled her eyes. How could you forget part of your parent's magical powers? Immediately, Percy's name popped into her head. She grinned evilly.

"Well, _Minnow Man_, let's hope your daddy doesn't blast you out of the sea for forgetting his awesomeness."

Percy snorted and looked at her sideways. "_Minnow Man_? Where did that come from?"

"I give everyone nicknames! For example, Nico is Gloom Guy and Connor is Doofus Dude! You're Minnow Man because a minnow is a teeny tiny fish and it has a teeny tiny brain."

Percy laughed, and Ever grinned in triumph. It's always an accomplishment when people approve of their nicknames. "Where exactly is Nico, anyway?" She asked him. Percy pointed at a circular arena where Nico sat. He was on a bench, alone, with his head in his hands, staring into space.

"Hey, EJ," Percy said, smiling a little bit. Ever grinned and waited for him to speak. "He's afraid that you'll forget about him and leave."

Ever nodded solemnly and gave a salute. "Don't worry, you can count on me."

Percy laughed and saluted before he started to jog in the opposite direction. Ever silently walked over to where Nico sat and scooted into the seat beside him. She was amused when he didn't even _notice_ her.

"Yo, Gloom Guy, miss me?" Ever yelled into his ear. Nico jumped a mile and started at her in astonishment.

"Wh-what? Ever? What are you doing here?" He stuttered with surprise. Nico stared at her like she was a ghost. Or, more accurately, like he hadn't expected to see her again. Ever rolled her eyes and bumped shoulders with him.

"What do you mean? You still need to teach me to fight with a sword!"

Nico blinked and looked startled. "You still want me to teach you?"

"Of course! Who else would teach me?"

"I know someone. He can teach you!" Nico stood up suddenly and startled Ever. "He's kind of stupid at times, but he's really good with swords. He'd be a better teacher, I'm sure. I'll go ask him—"

Nico rushed down the stadium steps. Rejection washed over Ever, and she felt a weight settle on her heart.

_Am I really that bad of a student? I thought he didn't want me to leave. Now he's trying to push me away as fast as he can…_

"Wait, Nico!" Ever called to him. Nico paused at the last step, and she quickly ran to him. Once she got there, Ever earnestly looked him in the eyes and started babbling desperately. "I'm sorry that I'm such a bad learner! I try my hardest to do _exactly_ what you say, but it's so hard sometimes!"

Nico's eyes were wide, and he looked like he wanted to interrupt her. Before he could, Ever started talking again. "I guess I've just never been good at listening to people." She confessed. "Sword fighting is harder than I thought! I really don't know why I suck so badly at it, really! I must've been dropped on my head too much—"

"SHH!" Nico yelled. Ever stopped immediately and watched Nico in surprise. He almost seemed…_angry_.

_Of course he's angry. He probably just wants to be done with me. They always do._

_Always._

**_Nico:_**

Nico was _mad_. Very mad. What did she think she was doing? There was nothing wrong with her learning abilities; she picked up everything like a toddler learns 1-2-3. The problem was _Nico_. He was trying to save her from being the girl that hung around Death Breath. Didn't she understand?

"Ever, what are you talking about?" Nico demanded angrily. "You're a great learner!"

Ever shook her head and sat down on the nearest bench. She put her head in her hands and sighed. Nico suddenly felt guilty for yelling at her, so he sat down beside her and patted her back awkwardly.

"Hey, I-I'm sorry for yelling at you." He said, trying to sound calm and comforting. He was too nervous to be calm, let alone _comforting._

"S'okay, I freaked." Ever said when she straightened up and looked Nico in the eyes. He squirmed under her gaze and looked at his hands.

"It's just…you aren't a bad learner. You don't need me, _Zombie boy_, to ruin your social life."

Ever grinned, then laughed, which was the opposite reaction of what Nico was expected. He expected a little bit of screaming, a little bit of crying, and a whole bunch of rejection towards himself. He was _extremely_ confused with her reaction.

_Did I say something funny? I thought this was supposed to be a serious moment._

"Nico, you don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?"

Ever leaned close and wrapped her arms around Nico. His cheeks grew red hot, and he felt embarrassed at being so close. Nico knew he shouldn't get close; she would unknowingly—or knowingly—break his heart in the future. Everyone did. However, he couldn't resist.

_Let Future Nico worry about it._

He smiled, despite what his mind said, and hugged Ever. Her sweet, strawberry shampoo reminded Nico of the fields in camp, and he rested his chin on her shoulder.

"I don't want your friend to teach me, I don't want a professional to teach me, I want _you_."

Right then and there, Nico came to a decision. Here was Ever, stubborn and amazing Ever. Whenever she was around, he felt happy, like he could be himself.

_From now on, I'll do just that. I'll be myself. With Ever, I know she won't judge me because of my parent. I will teach you, I will._

"You do realize that I'm going to be tougher than ever." Nico commented, enjoying the pained look that came onto Ever's face. She hated working hard.

"Well, as long as we're friends, everything will be just fine."

_Thank you, Ever. Thank you._

**_I hope you_**** enjoyed! Remember, review, follow, and all that fun stuff!**

**Hayden: That was a cheesy post.**

**Me: Well excuse me for being a Fangirl.**

**Sonic: I thought it was quite pleasant and heart warming.**

**Hayden: ^^NERDS**

**Me: ^BUTTFACE**

**Sonic: Yelling names at each other won't change anyone's mind.**

**Hayden: ^GOODY TWO SHOES**

**Me: ^BOOGER**

**Hayden: ^FISH FACE**

**Me: ^WATERMELON**

**Sonic: I think you're giving me a migraine.**

**THANKS! REVIEW AND FOLLOW! xD**


	5. The Human Shish Kabob

**Hello my Treians! I apologize for taking a bajillion years to post! Thanks for reviewing, guys! It makes me SO HAPPY! When you make me happy, I write, when I write I make you happy, when I make you happy you review, when you review you make me happy, and the cycle continues. So REVIEW and FAVORITE!**

**xD ENJOY!**

**_Ever:_**

"I hate you so much."

"That's nice."

"Seriously, you're ruining my life."

"Do you want me to teach you or not?"

"C'mo-on Nico! I'm so _tired_!"

"Ever, Capture the Flag is tomorrow night, you need to be ready!"

"Why? It's just capture the flag."

Nico face-palmed, and Ever rolled her eyes. Seriously, it was just capture the flag. It wasn't like she was practicing for the Olympics. How hard could it be?

"Exactly, Ever." Nico said with a roll of his eyes. "It's Capture the Flag _demigod style_."

"Which means…?"

"There will be weapons, magic, and possible maiming."

Ever snorted and smacked the wooden dummy with her 'sword'. It wasn't really a sword; it was a wooden _thing_ that Percy made for her in wood shop—turns out Percy wasn't really good at carving. Nico was prepping her for what he called 'Extreme Capture the Flag, Demigod Style'. ECFDS for short.

"We've been practicing for _days_, I think I'm prepared."

Nico sighed and roll his eyes at her. "Fine. You can stop."

Ever breathed a sigh of relief and threw the offensive sword at the dummy. Nico yelped when the wooden surface hit his leg.

"What was that for?"

"Oops, I mistook you for a dummy. I think all this exercise has made my eyes blurry."

Nico rolled his eyes and walked over to stand next to her. He gave her a withering glare, and Ever grinned cheerily in the face of imminent death.

"You are impossible." He muttered when her eyes didn't leave his. Nico looked down and blushed beet red. Ever laughed and swatted his shoulder teasingly.

"Gosh Nico, no wonder no one hangs with you. The first step to making friends is _eye contact_."

Nico glared at her. She smirked and gave him a look.

"Not _that_ kind of eye contact, doofus."

He rolled his eyes, and the corners of his mouth lifted up slightly. Ever stuck her tongue out at him.

_Seriously, Nico meeds to smile more. He reminds me of a Frankenstein with pale skin._

"You should get some rest." Nico said after a moment of silence. Ever frowned. She knew she probably should get some rest, but whenever someone _told_ her to sleep, she usually wanted to do the opposite. Nico noticed what was in her mind and gave her a slight shake of his head. "Seriously, you need sleep. I don't want you running around a battle field half asleep."

Ever groaned.

_Why does capture the flag have to be so far away? I just want to do it right now!_

Nico glanced up at the darkening sky and frowned. "In fact, you should go back to your cabin."

"Naw, I'll wait a while."

He raised an eyebrow and glanced at the forest near them. "What about the harpies?"

"Pub-Lease. Those chubby chickens couldn't catch a grasshopper."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Well, if you want Chiron to suspend you from Capture the Flag that's fine with me."

Ever raced back to her cabin faster than you can say 'harpy'.

~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~

Ever's helmet was itchy. It lay on her head precariously; it was two sizes too big. The leather chin strap scratched angrily against her skin, and her whole body felt like it was going to crash to the floor. The heavy armor made her teeter and hobble as she walked the small stream's perimeter.

_Stupid border patrol. I'm stuck here guarding a river while everyone else is trying to grab the flag._

Ever walked around the stream silently until shouting reached her ears. A boy was running for her full throttle. With the other team's flag.

"EVER! Behind you!" The boy yelled. It was then that she recognized Percy. Ever threw caution to the wind as she turned around and punched the first thing she saw.

It was a girl with Ever's team flag. The girl fell to the ground in surprise and snarled angrily. Percy laughed and ran closer to the creek, the red flag whipping around in the wind.

Before Ever knew what was happening, arrow after arrow flew to intercept Percy. He yelped and dodged countless close calls. Kids from all around the forest screamed and ran over to rush Percy.

_Wait—it's a trap! They were trying to overpower whoever took the flag before they got to the river!_

Sure enough, the mob came after Percy and knocked him to the ground. He fought tooth and claw; well, _tried_ to. They hoisted him on someone's shoulders and slowly took him into enemy custody.

"What the heck?! LEMME GO!" He howled as they marched off, a couple of they staying behind. Those that stayed back turned to Ever and brandished their swords. They looked at the girl with the flag, and Ever gulped.

_If I die now, Nico gets my snow globe collection._

An explosion came from behind her, and Ever was flung all the way across the creek. She rolled into the cool water and splashed around angrily. Water spilled into her mouth, and she came to the surface, coughing.

Another explosion.

This time she was thrown all the way where the other team's members were. Her ears ringed and the sound of yelling was muffled. With dizzy vision she pushed herself up and glanced backwards.

The trees were on fire. They burned with a fiery brilliance, and Ever was in awe. The heat was so intense that she felt it from far away. Smoke billowed up into the sky, and demigods ran around in a frantic. Then…she spotted something in the fire. It bubbled and churned like molten lava. Ever squinted her eyes and peered closer…

_BOOM!_

Her head felt like it was splitting open. The sound was ear piercing, and she cried out as her body was flung farther than both times combined. Her back hit the rough bark of a tree, and the impact made her head spin. A dull throbbing blossomed in her stomach, and she felt like her legs were hanging in mid-air.

Ever groaned and tried to move the hair out of her face. She looked down and nearly fainted.

She was skewered. On a tree branch.

The branch jutted out of her stomach like a shish kabob, and blood seeped from the wound. She was suspended over the ground.

_I-I-I-I-I_ Her thoughts rambled randomly, and she couldn't comprehend what had happened.

"EVER!" A voice yelled from somewhere. Ever looked around frantically and jerked her body painfully. She cried out in pain and blacked out.

**_Nico:_**

Nico was _not_ expecting Ever's first Capture the Flag to end with her hanging from a tree with a branch coming out of her stomach. It was bloodied and splintery; no doubt very painful. Her head hung limply as did her arms and legs. The fire made Nico's skin feel red hot, and he coughed when the smoke reached his lungs.

"EVER!" He yelled as he raced towards her. She groaned. The sounds of yelling came from the fire, and Nico felt it start to dim. Before long the fire was completely put out, and Apollo medics carefully moved Ever to a stretcher. The whole time she groaned, moaned, and made pained noises. Soot stained kids shuffled slowly to their cabins, and Nico hurriedly followed Ever and the medics.

They placed her on a table in the Big House. The table cloth grew bloody as the Apollo kids worked on Ever's gaping hole. Although he was used to gruesome images, Nico could barely look at Ever without wanting to puke. An hour passed before the Apollo kids filed out of the room, leaving Ever breathing heavily on the table. Half her shirt was ripped off and the largest bandage Nico had ever seen hugged her stomach. Blood slowly started seeping into the material.

"What happened?" Nico asked once Chiron entered the room.

"A machine malfunction. Faulty prototype."

"Hephaestus kids?"

"Yes. It was an automated nitrogen gun."

"Nitrogen…" Nico racked his brain to see if he knew what that was. "The stuff that freezes upon contact with air?"

"The very same. It was created with the purpose to be shot at the ground. It would freeze over and cause their enemy to slip."

Chiron left, and Nico was left alone with Ever. He stared at her pale, pained face and sighed. All the tubes and needles stuck all over her arms slightly freaked Nico out, but he was thankful that they kept her alive. The Apollo kids had given Ever a sedative, and it wasn't long before the side effects kicked in.

"Erm…" Ever muttered drunkenly. Her voice was slurred exaggeratedly, and Nico immediately suspected the sedative.

"Ever?" He whispered calmly.

"Urg…Nico? Whyz ur face sso wobbly…"

Nico blinked in surprise. "My…face?"

Ever giggled. "Yeeeeeeeah. Iz so haaaaaaandsum!"

His eyes widened. Nico's cheeks reddened and he gulped shyly.

_Stupid sedative._

"Thanks?" He muttered with a grimace. Ever giggled.

_Talking with someone under sedatives is stranger than I thought. I didn't even know Ever was capable of giggling._

Ever giggled again. "Niiiiiico!" She sang with a bubbly laugh. "Such a pwetty name!"

Nico blushed ever redder. This was probably the strangest situation he had ever been in.

_Aren't injured people supposed to be, I don't know, __sleeping__?_

"Ever, I think you need to rest." Nico muttered as he moved towards the door.

"Nooooooo! Niiiiico! Don't leeeeave me!"

He paused and blushed even more. Ever's call ringed in his ears. Although he knew she was talking nonsense, everything she said made him feel like his heart was being shot with Cupid's arrows. She was just so—dare he say it—_cute_.

_Kill me now._

Nico face-palmed and shuffled back towards Ever with a sigh. She giggled and flashed him a winner's grin. Involuntarily, he smiled.

"Niiiiico, you're so pweeeeeetty!" She murmured happily. Ever giggled and winked at him sluggishly—if you could call her flirtatious double-eyed blink a wink. "Your hair looks ssso fluuuuuffy!"

Nico cleared his throat and looked at his hands shyly. "T-that's nice."

"Can I touch it?" Ever asked seriously. She gazed at his hair, looking completely transfixed by it. Not even bothering to wait, she reached out a hand and ran her fingers through Nico's hair. His eyes widened and the blush on his cheeks grew red-hot. He was slightly ashamed to admit that it felt good to have her fingers running through his hair. Her fingers on his skin felt like electricity, and she moved them in a way that caused a calming chill to run through his body. His eyes started drooping and he visibly relaxed.

_I swear, if __anyone__ sees this I will dig myself a hole and hide for eternity._

"You have very soft hair." Ever muttered, her voice still slurred slightly. She brought her hand back to her side and closed her eyes contently. "I like you."

"Wh-what?" Nico stuttered in confusion.

"I liiiiiiiike you!" Ever sang joyfully. She giggled. "I like your haaaaair, your eeeeeeeyes, your voooooooice, your niiiiicenessss, your weeeeirdnessss, your—"

Ever was asleep before the list was finished. Nico blinked in surprise when she fell asleep out of nowhere. He knew she was asleep because she started muttering randomly.

"Pwetty hair…"

Nico blushed and cleared his throat. He walked towards the door and looked back. Ever lay, sleeping, on the table with a satisfacted smile on her face. Her happy face made Nico ecstatic; he smirked and walked out of the Big House.

_Ever will never believe me when I tell her what happened._

Nico smirked and breathed in the fresh Camp Half-Blood air. Already kids of Demeter and nymphs were working on rebuilding the burned forest, and Apollo kids healed camper's various injuries. The smell of smoke was gone, and it was almost impossible to tell that there had been a fire.

"Nico Nico Nico!" Percy yelled as he ran towards him. "Is Ever alright?!"

Over the week Percy and Ever had grown close. They both shared the love of blue food. When Percy gave some blue coke to her a few days ago, Ever immediately started following the way of the Blue Food. They both refused to eat normal, un-blue pancakes. In addition to loving blue, the two of them had a strange way with horses.

"She's fine." Nico muttered absentmindedly. He was still trying to process everything Ever had said. Percy breathed a sigh of relief and looked like he wanted to check up on her. "You might want to wait to see her."

"Why?" Percy asked in confusion.

"She's a little bit…loony."

Percy gave him a blank look. Nico rolled his eyes. "She's under sedatives and mutters strange things."

"Like what?"

Nico blushed. Slowly, Percy pieced together things and grinned. "Whoa, she said _those_ kind of things?"

"Wh-what do you mean, _those kind of things_?"

"Oh, nothing." Percy smirked and started sauntering away.

"Percy!"

"You know, if Ever keeps saying things like 'I like you' then you'll have bigger things to worry about."

"Wait—how do you know she said that?!"

Percy looked back at him and smirked evilly. "You should go back to your girlfriend."

Nico's face was practically steaming. He clenched his fists and stormed away. Ever and Percy's voices rang in his head as he threw himself into the shadows.

"_I like you."_

_"__You should go back to your girlfriend."_

_"__Iz so haaaaandsum!"_

_"__You'll have bigger things to worry about."_

_"—__your niiiiicenesss,"_

_"__You know, if Ever keeps saying things like 'I like you'—"_

_"—__Your vooooooice—"_

_"__She said __those__ kind of things?"_

_"__I like you."_

Nico appeared in the forest. Birds chirped and calmed his nerves. He sat on a mossy rock and put his head in his hands. With a sigh he rubbed his eyes and relaxed his shoulders. Ever's happy face appeared in his mind, and Nico smiled. Although the whole situation had been strange at the time, he was glad it had happened.

~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~

The next day Nico visited Ever. She sat on a couch in the Big House and munched on ambrosia. He asked her if she remembered anything from yesterday, but she gave him a blank look.

"Why, what happened?" She asked suspiciously. Nico smiled and stared off into space.

"Nothing, no need to worry."

Ever nodded and continued to munch on her food. Nico, still staring into space, waited for her to finish. Before he could tell her about what happened, she started talking about the strange dream she had while asleep.

"We were in a room, and I was rubbing your hair. Seriously though, it was super _soft_! Then you turned into a horse and we went searching for the Leprechaun's put of gold—"

Nico smirked and looked at his hands.

_I'll just keep what happened to myself. It'll be my memory of us. I can look back on this moment and smile. Plus, it could be some great blackmail material._

Nico's smile caught Ever's attention, and she asked him what it was for.

"Nothing."

"C'mon! Tell me!"

"I was just thinking happy thoughts, no need to worry."

"Go ahead, say it."

"Say what?"

"You know…about training."

"I told you there was possible maiming."

"Well—"

"I told you so—"

"Shut it."

**Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed, and don't forget to favorite and review!**

**Hayden: That was really dramatic.**

**Me: Mission accomplished, YAAY!**

**Hayden: That poor idiot is gonna fall in love with a walking caution sign.**

**Me: In what universe is someone a walking caution sign?**

**Sonic: I think he means that disaster follows her.**

**Hayden: Sonic understands me.**

**Me: Why didn't you just say she was a walking disaster?**

**Hayden: That's so clicky.**

**Sonic: You mean cliché?**

**Hayden: Same difference.**

**THANKS! REVIEW AND FAVORITE!**


	6. The Floating Glowy Thing

**HI! I'm soooo sorry for taking a bajillion years; I've been sick for a week -.- any who, ENJOY!**

**_Nico:_**

Nico and Ever sat quietly underneath a tree, both of them breathing heavily. Earlier, he had been going over certain sword techniques. Afterwards they walked towards the treeline and collapsed beneath a tree. Ever seemed quieter than usual, but Nico didn't want to point it out. He wasn't sure if their friendship was big enough to include problems.

They sat silently before Ever turned to Nico and gave him a giant frown.

"How did you get to Camp Half-Blood?" She asked suddenly, her eyes focused completely on him. Ever looked thoughtful as she studied his shocked reaction. Nico thought she looked like she wanted him to answer some unasked question. Kind of like a trick question where you answer truthfully but you end up giving the other person the wrong answer.

_I've been watching too much Soap operas._ He thought to himself ridiculingly. _Why would she have an ulterior motive? It's not like my answer could impact her entire life._

He hesitated for a moment. Although actually _getting_ to Camp Half-Blood wasn't the source of his grief, it was sort of a chain reaction. Camp Half-Blood, Bianca and the Hunters, Percy telling him she was killed, seeing her ghost…they were all connected.

"Well…Percy, Annabeth, and Grover went to get me and my sister at a dance—"

"You have a sister?" She asked, her eyes brightening slightly. Nico winced and glanced down.

"_Had_ a sister."

Ever looked down and sighed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."

"S'okay."

"Continue."

Nico rolled his eyes slightly. Although he could tell she felt bad for mentioning his sister, she never got off track. "They got me and my sister at a school dance, and they were going to bring the two of us back when a manticore attacked us. Bianca became a Hunter of Artemis, and I went back to Camp."

Ever scrunched her nose and looked like she was deep in thought. "That sounds less dangerous than it should be."

_Of course she would say that._ Nico snorted and glanced at her from the corner of his eye. She was staring into space, and Nico wondered what she was thinking. Ever was frowning slightly, and a calculating look dominated her face. He had never seen her concentrate so much.

With every ounce of courage he could muster, Nico asked the question that had been on his mind all day. "What's wrong?"

Ever sighed and turned towards him, as if she had been waiting for him to ask that exact question. "What did your parents think? Well, _parent_. Or adopted family. Foster family? I don't know, whoever was in charge of you. What did they think?"

Nico frowned and collected his thoughts and memories. "I was in the Lotus Casino for a while, and we were gone before my mom could say anything. I'm not sure how she would have reacted." He looked down. What _would_ she have thought? When he first went to the Lotus Casino he was, what, eleven? Twelve? Add 4-5 years, not including the time spent in the casino, and you'd get forgotten memories. Throughout everything that happened, there were bound to be some things he forgot. His mom was one of them.

"What's the Lotus Casino?" Ever asked curiously.

"A casino that satisfies your desires so you never leave and never age."

Once he saw Ever's face he immediately added, "Never go there."

She rolled her eyes and bumped shoulders with him. "Wow, you have _so_ much trust in me."

"I try."

Ever smiled slightly before frowning again. Her gaze was unfocused, and she looked thoughtful again. "I've been worrying about my parents lately."

_Oh, that's right. She was adopted._

"I mean my adopted parents." She quickly added, although that wasn't necessary. "They've always been good to me, and I feel bad for leaving them. Especially since I had a big job."

"What do you mean?" She had never told him about her family. They seemed to be a touchy subject.

"Well, I already told you that my mom was—_is_—a lawyer. She was always busy, and it didn't help that we moved all the time. She had a hard time finding work whenever we moved. Then she'd get in what she called her 'Business Grooves', and we'd move not long after."

Ever paused before she continued. "My dad's an important figure in government. I have no idea what he does, though. They never gave me details. The only thing I figured out was that his job included moving a lot."

"Why wouldn't they tell you?"

"The owner of the adoption center might or might not have told them about my tendency to spill the beans."

_If the owner knew her long enough to tell the parents that, how long had she been under adoption?_

I voiced my thoughts, but Ever just swatted my shoulder. "_Getting_ there! Anyway, I was at the adoption center for about…ten years? Maybe eleven, before they adopted me. According to the nurses I was a loud baby and no one wanted me 'cause I made such a racket."

_Doesn't sound too far fetched._

Ever apparently heard what he was thinking because she shot him a glare before continuing. "When they adopted me, they already had two kids and one on the way. Edward, who's a year older than me, Percy, which I find hysterical now that I'm here, and the baby, who would soon be Cassie. The two of them adopted me because they knew they would be too busy to take care of the baby, and well, they were kind of tired of hiring sitter after sitter."

Slowly, Nico put two and two together. "They adopted you to be their nurse maid?"

"Ding ding!" Ever said loudly in confirmation. "It's kind of stupid because one would assume Edward could do that. _Except_—"

Nico waited patiently for her to finish.

"Except he was busy trying to become a professional football player."

"Seriously? What about Percy?"

"He was only five years old."

Nico nodded in understanding.

"I mean, they adopted me for a sole purpose, and I just _shadow traveled away…_" Ever sniffed, and Nico could see her eyes start to water. Frankly, he was startled and a little scared. He had no clue what he was supposed to do. The only thing he had to help him were cheesy movies Hazel made him watch. Nico was pretty sure Ever would not appreciate him gathering her in his arms and showering her in kisses like the guys in movies.

Suddenly, Nico felt the ground shifting underneath him. The tree groaned and cracked alarmingly. Nico and Ever backed away warily, watching as its branches swung around randomly. Vines sprouted out of the ground and quickly wrapped itself around the tree. It squeezed the trunk until the tree literally—_literally_—shattered into a million pieces. They both threw up their arms to shield themselves from the bark shards.

"What's happening?" Ever cried out as the grass around them shot upwards and grew at an alarming rate. Nico grabbed her arm and stood up, picking her up with him. He didn't miss the tear that slowly went down her cheek.

The grass curled around their ankles like claws and inched their way up their legs. Nico kicked at them and ran, pulling Ever with him. The trees around them swayed and leaned towards them as if to trap them in the forest. The grass grew like talons and tried to wrap around them. Luckily they hadn't gone too far into the forest; before long they burst into Camp and ran for their lives.

"Why is the vegetation trying to kill us?!" Ever howled as the grass kept coming. That was when Nico noticed the glowing, floating thing above Ever's head.

"Ever, stop!" He yelled at her forcefully. She stopped abruptly and stared at him questioningly, the grass slowly curling up their legs. "Look up."

She did and gasped in amazement. Above her head floated the sign of Demeter, claiming Ever as her daughter. Everything clicked in that moment.

_Son of death and daughter of life,_

_Face the dilemma of eternal strife,_

_Staying loyal till the coming death,_

_For one will face their very last breath._

Son of Death. Nico. Daughter of Life.

Ever.

"What's this floaty glow thing mean?" Ever asked in wonder, lifting her hand as if to touch it. She was completely transfixed by it, and little flowers started blooming around her feet. "It looks really cool!"

"You've been claimed." Nico said sadly, the prophecy ringing in his ears. Below him, the grass slowly died and withered.

"By who, the god of glow sticks?"

Nico rolled his eyes and smiled wryly. "No. Demeter, goddess of the harvest."

Slowly, Ever seemed to piece everything together like he had. "Is that why all the plants were trying to kill us? They were reacting to my emotions?"

That hadn't occurred to him until she mentioned it. It seemed plausible; Ever had not been too happy when the plants started attacking, and she wouldn't know about the prophecy; he hadn't told her about that.

"Sounds about right." He muttered. "You should go tell Chiron."

"Don't you mean _we_ should go tell Chiron?" She asked with a grin. Nico smiled and shook his head.

"I have some…business to take care of."

Ever shrugged and gave him a winner's grin, clearly happy that she'd been claimed. "Well, I'm one step closer to finding out who my jerk of a parent is! If you ever need any firepower for your _business_, you know who to call." She winked and started running towards the Big House, flowers sprouting wherever her feet walked. Nico shook his head in amusement and starting walking back into the forest; he had a satyr to find.

**~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~**

Nico found Andrew playing the harp underneath a strange wisteria tree. The satyr's blond hair was still in dreadlocks, but instead of orange ribbon he had green hair ties in random spots. His eyes were outlined in guy liner like last time, but he added sparkly green eyeshadow. His Camp Half-Blood shirt was beaded on the sleeves, and he wore sparkly green christmas tree tights—even though it was July. Overall, Andrew looked absolutely ridiculous.

"I think you've gone a little over the top with the whole 'Christmas in July' thing." Nico commented as he stood over the satyr. Andrew snorted and stopped playing the harp long enough to glare.

"Well look who it is. Nico, everyone's favorite Gloom Guy. What kind of dark magic has brought you here?"

Nico grimaced and plopped next to Andrew, ignoring the satyr's startled look. "It's Ever."

"What about her?" He asked warily.

"She's been claimed."

Andrew grinned. "Good for her! Lemme guess…Hermes? No! Apollo! Or possibly Hecate."

Nico snorted. The strange thing was, he could totally see Ever as a daughter of each of those gods.

_Yup, I was right. Something is wrong in the world. I'm actually agreeing with Andrew._

"No, Demeter."

Andrew was silent. Probably remembering the prophecy.

"You remember the prophecy, don't you?"

"Yup." Andrew muttered with nod. "It's probably talking about you and Ever. Personally, I hope you're the one who takes their last breath."

"Thanks." He answered dryly. Although he didn't want to die, he didn't want Ever to die. It was a hopeless situation. The only solution was that Hades would resurrect him afterwords, but Nico found that highly unlikely.

"I guess you'd better get ready then." Andrew added as he fiddled with his harp. Nico gave him a confused look.

"Ready for what? Death?"

"No." The satyr gave him a withering look, and Nico felt like he was missing something. "Son of death and daughter of life,

Face the dilemma of eternal strife,

Staying loyal till the coming death,

For one will face their very last breath. Don't you see? _Eternal strife_? That means you're gonna have some intense problems before death and even _after_ death. Dude, you've been forever and eternally condemned."

**_?:_**

He sat on his throne regally, Enyo stroking his face. She cooed flirtatiously and sat in his lap. "Oh Enyalius, you are simply a _genius_—"

"—Truly, you shall bring us victory." Melpomene said from behind his, her arms snaking around from behind. A devilish grin came upon him, and the three of them watched as the demigod's blood seeped into the dirt floor. She had been disobedient; refusing to do as he commanded.

"Bring in Voútyro and Gála." Enyalius shouted to his minions, fox-headed beasts he created for his own amusement. The αλεπού, or, Alepoú, scurried off and brought in the two troublemakers. They bickered as they walked in, apparently arguing over their new product, frozen buttermilk.

"Report." He told them in a booming voice. The twin gods gulped and bowed on one knee, keeping their heads to the ground.

"Our squadron has been doing well, Lord Enyalius." Voutyro said, his buttery yellow hair flopping everywhere as he continually bowed mockingly.

"We have successfully…persuaded them." Gala added, glaring at her brother's childish behavior.

"How many are in your flock?" Enyalius growled, wanting to get their talk over with. The smell of blood on the floor called him, and he was hungry.

"Seventy-two, my lord." Gala told him. "We lost our prototype."

"Prepare them for a test run."

Gala nodded, and the two twins ran out of the room.

"Why so soon, Enyalius?" Melpomene cooed as she caressed his face.

"I don't want our quarry dying on us." Enyo pouted with puckered lips.

"Don't worry my destructive beauties, the demigods are stronger than you think." Enyalius muttered with an evil smirk. He stood abruptly and walked out of the room, the two goddesses sulking behind him. He walked down the hallway and relished the groans that came from his quarry.

"They're almost ready. Only two things are missing."

"What is it, my lord?" Enyo asked with a malicious grin.

"We shall collect it for you!" Melpomene added with a cackle.

"Then, my insane lovelies, bring me the condemned."

**MWAHAHAHHA! Hope you liked! xD**

**Hayden: How can I like this when you ended it with the bad guy?!**

**Me: How do you know he's the bad guy?**

**Sonic: It's quite obvious.**

**Me: What if Nico thought he was the good guy but as things went on everything got darker and eviler and at the end of the story you realized he was the bad guy all along.**

**Hayden: ...**

**Sonic: ...**

**Hayden: MIND BLOWN.**

**REVIEW AND FOLLOW! xD Thanks for reading!**


	7. The Picnic

**Hello! It's been a while, hasn't it? Enjoy this latest installment!**

**_Leo:_**

"You want us to help plan Ever's birthday party?!"

"SHHH! She'll hear you…"

"Oh, oops. How do you know it's her birthday?"

"She told me."

Leo scratched his chin and glanced at Piper. She was grinning ear to ear.

"Of course we'll do it!" She exclaimed excitedly while jumping up and down repeatedly. Leo wasn't sure if this was her inner Aphrodite coming out or she was mentally unwell. He had never seen her act so…girly.

Nico shook his head slightly and said firmly, "_Help_ do it, you mean."

"No, no, no!" Piper practically screamed. Both Leo and Nico backed up with wide eyes. "No offense Nico, but if you plan _any_ of her party, it'll be gloom and darkness!"

_I think she's overdoing Nico's Batman-like personality…_

"But this was my idea!" Nico exclaimed with fervor.

"Yeah, Nico! Stand up to the Beauty Queen!" Leo whooped and pumped his fist in the air. Piper shot him a glare, and he flinched away like a puppy.

"Let us handle it, and this party will be fantastic!"

_Wait…__us__?!_

"Leave me outta this—" Piper slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Alright." Nico reluctantly answered. His shoulders slouched as he shuffled off. "Remember, it's in two days." He called to them before hobbling away dejectedly.

"I think you just crushed Nico's dream." Leo told Piper with a frown. "Which happens to be the first dream he's had in what, years?"

"Dream schmean! He'll get over it." She said as she pulled out a blue notebook. After she flipped through a couple pages, Piper showed Leo a very detailed drawing of a couple eating a picnic. Although the art was absolutely horrible, Leo immediately recognized Nico's favorite new aviator jacket, and Ever's messy mop of hair. "He'll thank us when we make his _other_ dream come true!"

"Nico has another dream?"

Piper punched Leo's shoulder and glared at him. He rubbed the sore spot and wondered when Piper had gotten so abusive.

"Of course he does! Would Nico plan _anyone_'s birthday party?"

"Didn't he call them overrated and unnecessary?"

"EXACTLY!" Piper squealed and started hopping up and down like the Aphrodite kids when they find a new ship.

_Wait…ship? OOOOOOOOOOOH_

"You mean Nico—and Ever—" Leo stuttered with wide eyes, looking from Piper to Nico, who was walking out of earshot. She rolled her eyes and gave him a look that made him feel like he was missing a very important detail.

"Not yet. Which is why we need to speed things up!"

Leo suddenly understood where Piper was going with this. He grinned and felt the tips of his hair ignite. "The Super McShizzle is on it!"

"Okay, this is what we're going to do…"

**~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~**

**_Jason:_**

Jason was just _minding his own business_ when he came upon Piper and Leo decorating for Christmas. Leo was on the ground building what looked like christmas lights, and Piper stood on a ladder hanging them on trees. They were by the beach, so the sound of the surf disguised their conversation. He was finally able to hear what they said when he carefully sneaked closer.

"How much longer will those lights take?" Piper asked. A couple sparks flew from whatever Leo was working on, and he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

"Uuuuuh…"

"Hurry up! Nico and Ever will be here any minute!"

"Okay, okay," Leo muttered as he added some finishing touches. "This should work."

"Help me put them up."

Leo did, and Jason watched as they struggled to put up the lights. He sighed and walked towards them.

"Jason!" Piper exclaimed happily. "I'm so happy to see you!" She jumped down from the ladder and started running towards him. Jason smiled and opened his arms, but was incredibly surprised when she kept running and returned to throw a pile of lights on him. "Put these up."

"Wait—what?"

"Don't question her!" Leo called from atop a ladder. "Your girlfriend is more stubborn and abusive than I thought."

"…Abusive?"

"Get to work!" Piper hollered from behind Jason, looking like she was about to storm over to them and throw them into the ocean. He gulped and shuffled over to the other ladder, where he started putting up lights.

"Why am I putting up Christmas lights in July?" Jason asked warily, for once afraid his girlfriend was going insane.

"They aren't Christmas lights!" Leo yelled. "They're high-voltage, glow-in-the-dark lights!"

"Aren't all lights glow-in-the-dark?"

Leo didn't answer. Piper rolled her eyes. "It's for Ever's birthday today." She told him as she set up what looked like a fancy picnic.

"Ever's birthday is today?"

"I just said that!"

_Is it just me, or is Piper operating on a short fuse…?_

"She's totally into this." Leo whispered so she couldn't hear. "Seriously, I've never been so afraid of someone in my life."

Jason couldn't argue. Piper's loud mutterings about strangling someone scared him more than he thought.

"CODE RED!" Leo screamed all of a sudden, and Jason practically fell off the ladder. "WOMEN AND LEO FIRST!"

"What's Code Red?!" Jason yelled towards Piper. She was hurriedly finishing the picnic, and started running for the trees.

"THEY'RE COMING!"

Jason figured she meant Nico and Ever. Before he knew what was happening, Leo and Piper had disappeared. Rustling came from some bushes, and Jason flew upwards. Sure enough, Nico and Ever appeared. Not wanting to disturb them, Jason flew off to find his girlfriend and her minion.

**~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~**

**_?:_**

The man hid in a tree as the couple walked towards the picnic.

"Happy Birthday, Ever." A boy said sheepishly as he gestured towards the setup. A girl grinned and plopped down happily.

"Wow! Nico, this is great!" She rubbed her hands together and gazed greedily at all the delicacies spread out. Nico smiles happily and looks towards the trees with a thumbs up. He mouthed, 'Thanks'. Not to the man, though.

"Did you do this yourself, Nico?"

"I had help."

"Seriously, this is amazing!"

Nico sat down next to Ever and smiled happily as she piled a plate with two of everything. "Do you really think so?"

"DUH!" She said as she stuffed a pickle into her mouth. "These are all my favorite foods! How'd you know?"

"You never shut up about them at lunch."

Ever tries to glare at him, but ends up grinning and stuffing more food into her mouth. She shoves some dessert-thing towards Nico. "Try this."

"What is it?" He asks before sniffing it and inspecting it thoroughly.

"Just try it."

Nico looks warily at her before slowly taking a bite out of it. He immediately brightens and eats the whole thing. "What is this?"

"A Tim Tam cake!"

Nico licks him fingers of excess chocolate and grabs another.

"I had my first one in Australia." She adds.

"You've been to Australia?"

Ever stuffs a Tim Tam cake in her mouth and nods. "I lived there for a couple months."

The man in the tree shifts his body weight and lifts the camera, hoping to find the perfect moment for a picture. He watches as they finish off the rest of the food and rub their bellies happily.

"I have never been so happy in my life." Ever says with a laugh as she leans towards Nico.

_YES!_

"Thank you." She kisses his cheek, and Nico blushes a deep red. The man takes a picture, and flinches when the flash goes off.

"What was that?"

"It looked like a camera's flash."

"Is someone over there?"

"I'm not sure, Ever."

"OH MY GOSH we're being stalked!"

"I'll go check."

Before the two of them could move, he jumps down from the tree and runs for his life.

"I _told_ you we're being stalked!"

"He took our picture!"

"Should be chase him?"

The man found a pond after a while of running. He jumped right into it, and disappeared with his prize.

**THANKS FOR READING! Remember, the more you review, the faster I write ;)**

**Hayden: You're threatening your readers again.**

**Me: It's called motivation.**

**Sonic: Actually, you're stating that the reviews help your writing speed.**

**Me: What he said.**

**Hayden: I think both me and the readers agree that you're threatening them.**

**Me: How do you know? They have to review and tell me if they think I'm threatening them, and so far they haven't.**

**Hayden: Now you're blaming them for not reviewing and telling you their thoughts!**

**Me: STOP TWISTING MY WORDS!**

**REVIEW, FAVORITE, FOLLOW, AND ALL THAT FUN STUFF! xD xD**


	8. The Brain Hemorrhoids

**Hi my peoples! I'm SOOO sorry for the wait! Nico just didn't want the truth to be revealed.**

**Nico: What truth? I'm not hiding anything.**

**Me: ^*liar*^**

**Nico: -_- I'm doomed.**

**_Ever:_**

Ever fell on her rear end with a giant _huff_! This was her fifth time on the ground. No matter how hard she tried, Ever could never get a hit on that cocky Nico Di Angelo.

"Stop being so aggressive." Nico muttered as he held out his hand for Ever. She frowned and allowed him to help her up.

"It doesn't help that you snicker when I trip." She muttered in frustration. "Every time I fall I just wanna punch that smug face of yours."

Nico grinned and handed her a wooden sword, the same sword that he had knocked out of her hands not too long ago. "I thought children of Demeter were supposed to be _gentle_."

Ever gave him a look and laughed. "Puh-lease. Have I ever followed the rules?"

Nico rolled his eyes. "Heaven forbid you follow the rules."

_At last! He's finally getting it!_

"Now," Ever started as she got in the ready position. "Let's do this."

Nico copied her and stared her down, daring her to attack first. She took the bait and lunged, swinging upwards. He jumps back and parries, bringing his sword down on her shoulder. Ever sidestepped out of the way and thrust towards his stomach. He backed up again and swung for her side. Once again she sidestepped, but before she could react Nico brought his fist up to punch her face. Ever let out a dying sound before she flung herself backwards and fell on her toosh, managing to get out of the way before his fist made contact.

"FOUL!" Ever yelled at the top of her lungs. "Cheater!"

"It's not cheating. Any and every enemy will use all foul play to defeat you."

"Okay, again." Ever stood up and got ready.

"I think that's enough for today." Nico muttered tiredly. Sweat trickled down his face, but that didn't compete with the rivers cascading down Ever's back.

_No matter what happens, I need to win at least __once__._

"C'mon Nico!" She pleaded. "One more time!"

He sighed and got ready. "Fine. But don't come crying to me when your bruises start to hurt."

"Right back at'cha!" Ever yelled and lunged feroshiously. She swung blindly and aimed for anything that would hurt him. Nico's eyes widened as he dodged or parried blow after blow. Ever swung with gusto, showing no signs of slowing down. Adrenaline pumped through her veins, and she felt lightning fast. Beads of sweat poured down both their faces, and soon enough her eyes stung.

"Ever, calm down!" She vaguely heard Nico saying. Honestly, she didn't really care. This was fun. With a grin, Ever slashed at his head. Instead of ducking, like she thought he would, Nico jumped completely out of the way. She lost her balance and tumbled head over heals. Her back crashed against the marble column of the arena. Little cuts all over her body stung, and her head had a pounding headache. Every single muscle cried out. Her adrenaline was gone.

"Ever, are you okay?" Nico said as he kneeled next to her. "Does anything hurt?"

"Only my pride and the little cuts all over me." Ever murmured humorously. "That was fun, wasn't it?"

Nico hesitated before he smiled and nodded. "Yeah, actually. For once I had to actually try."

Ever groaned. "You mean you weren't trying before?" Her voice slurred slightly.

He grinned and laughed mockingly. "Nope."

They were both breathing heavily, and the world seemed to be swirling around. "Hey Nico?"

"Hm?"

"Is the world supposed to be red?"

"What?" Nico's eyes widened in panic. "No!"

"Oh. That's not good."

Red approached from the edges of her vision, and the world kept spinning out of control. "Ever? Ever!" She heard Nico yell from far away.

"Whoa…when did you have a twin…" She muttered before the red overcame her, and she slept.

**_Nico:_**

Right after Ever fainted, Nico took her right to the Big House. A couple Apollo healers rushed around for a while until they went into a room to discuss Ever's condition. It wasn't until Hayden, the only person in the Apollo cabin—other than Will—that didn't bug Nico about Disney songs, walked out that he knew something bad had happened.

"Well, it's bad." Hayden flat-out said. He nodded and stared at Nico with a blank expression.

"And?" Nico probed.

"They said a complicating word like brain hemorrhoids or something." Hayden scratched his head. "I had no idea you could get hemorrhoids in your brain."

Will Solace walked in before Nico could question Hayden about her 'brain hemorrhoids'. "He means she has brain hemorrhage." Will said as he glared in Hayden's direction. "It's when an artery in your brain bursts. Did she hit her head or go through anything traumatic before this happened?"

Nico remembered when she banged her head on the marble in the arena, and the subtle _thud_ that came from it. "Yeah."

"What happened?"

"We were sparring, and she tumbled into one of the marble columns at the arena."

Both Will and Hayden winced.

"Ouch." Hayden muttered. "No wonder she popped a vessel."

"An _artery_, Hayden." Will said with a frustrated sigh. "It was an _artery_."

"Same difference." He shrugged.

"This is why you'll never be a healer." Will muttered to himself before focusing on Nico. "That hit might have done it. Good thing you brought her here as soon as did. Any longer and there would have been permanent damage."

_Permanent?_

"But you don't have to worry about it." Will said with a warm and reassuring smile. "She'll be up and normal by the morning."

"Is she…conscious?"

"Yup. She won't shut up!" Hayden complained.

_Of course she wouldn't. I'm not sure I've ever seen a silent Ever._

"Can I see her?" Nico asked. Will nodded and led him to a room with white walls covered in butterflies. Ever lay in a pink bed. There was pink everywhere. Ever shot death glares at everything. She brightened when Nico walked in the room, but she still looked like she wanted to destroy the whole room.

"I'm just gonna guess that you don't like pink." Hayden commented when he received one of Ever's glares. She nodded and pouted.

"Pink is my worst enemy." She muttered. "No offense to anyone who likes pink!" Ever looked around apologetically to see if anyone was offended.

"Don't worry, I feel you." Hayden nodded and glared daggers at the pink butterflies. "Yellow is so much better."

"I actually prefer green." She said thoughtfully. "And brown."

Hayden rolled his eyes. "Typical Demeter kid."

There was a lull in the conversation, so Nico decided to butt in. "Uh, Ever?"

"Hm?"

"I'm sorry you got hurt with brain hemorrhoids—I mean hemorrhage!" Nico meekly told her. He looked down and fiddled with his thumbs. "I shouldn't have gone so hard on you."

"Pssssssssh!" Ever said with a casual wave of her hand. "Who cares? No pain no gain, right?"

Nico's eyes widened. "Does it hurt that bad?"

"Well, at first." She shrugged. "But now it's all good. Just you wait, next time I'll get you!"

"There won't be a next time…" He murmured quietly. Ever's eyes widened, and she leaned towards him in disbelief.

"What?" She demanded.

"I said, there won't be a next time." Nico said louder, his decision made.

_She keeps getting hurt. If only after a couple weeks of training she gets hurt this badly, will the same thing happen in the future? What if it had been permanent? I can't bear it if she gets hurt because of me. I've lost too much._

"Of course there'll be a next time!" Ever replied with passion. "You can't back out now!"

"I can, I will, and I am." Nico told her with a poker face. She puffed her cheeks in anger and crossed her arms, pouting. "I'm sorry, Ever."

Ever ignored him and glared murderously at the pink nightstand next to her.

"Ever, I just can't see you get hurt."

Nothing.

_Is she giving me the silent treatment?_

"C'mon, Ever."

"Does anyone else hear that buzzing sound?" Ever asked the others in the room, completely ignoring Nico. "Must be my _imagination._"

Nico was out of the room before she could stab at his pride again.

Just like Will said, Ever was out of the pink room by the morning. She walked around Camp happily, spending most of her time with a Hephaestus girl named Marlin.

And ignoring Nico.

Every time he tried to catch her eye she'd look away and walk in the opposite direction. Every day felt like months. They dragged along. Nico didn't know what to do. Ever since he had met Ever, it seemed like they did everything together. There wasn't a moment he could remember that didn't involve Ever. Meals, training, free time, he did them all with her. Without her he just wandered around.

It wasn't until four days had passed that someone intervened.

"Psst!" A voice called. "Nico, over here!"

Nico looked around suspiciously before he saw Piper hiding behind a wall. He was strangely reminded of when she and Percy kidnapped him. Cautiously, he walked over.

"C'mere!" She hissed as she grabbed his arm and pulled him behind the wall. Jason sat against the wall and gave Nico a sympathetic look. Piper threw Nico against the wall, and he rubbed his arm.

"Okay, we have to talk." Piper said as she stood in front of the two boys and put her hands on her hips.

"About what?" Nico grumbled.

"Ever." Piper growled back.

"Why do I have to be here, then?" Jason muttered unhappily.

"Because." She crossed her arms. "You're both going to fix this mess."

Nico started to get up. "There's no mess to fix."

Before he could walk away, Piper pushed him against the wall again and glared daggers at him.

"Of course there's a problem! You're ignoring Ever!"

"Actually, she started it…" He muttered.

"It doesn't matter who started it! What matters is how things end up."

Nico stayed silent.

_Piper's right. Of course I want to be friends with Ever again. I just—I just don't know how._

Piper's face softened when she noticed his expression. "Nico, everybody has fights. No two people agree about everything. I don't know what made Ever so angry, but you do. And I know that you need to fix it." She smiles and pats Nico's head, tilting her head. "It's not everyday that an amazing person like Ever comes into your life."

"But what do I do?" Nico whined helplessly. He wasn't used to these things. Having friends was harder than he remembered. "What if I just mess up again?"

"That's why Jason and I are here." She said softly. "We'll set the mood. The rest is up to you."

**~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~**

Set the mood they did. When Piper and Jason were done 'setting the mood', Nico was reminded of the day he and Ever celebrated her birthday. A plaid blanket lay underneath a tree, and a bottle of Diet Pepsi stood in the middle with two sad excuses for wine glasses. Two fancy looking paper plates were piled with Ever's favorite lunch food: greasy hamburgers stacked with bacon.

_If those hamburgers don't make her happy, I'm doomed._

"Nico?" Ever's voice said from behind him. Nico turned to see her staring at him, clearly not expecting him to be there. "What are you doing here?"

"Surprise." Nico smiled and gestured to the picnic. "My treat."

She glared at him. "If you think food will make this all better, then you're mista—are those bacon burgers?" Ever walked over to a plate and plopped down, gazing at the food sheepishly. "Maybe I can bear your presence for a little bit."

They ate for a while, staying silent. The only sounds were Ever's happy chomping and Nico nervously tapping his fingers against the tree's trunk.

"If you don't hurry up and say what you want to say I'll leave." Ever threatened all of a sudden. Nico blinked in surprise and cleared his throat. He had hoped she would apologize.

"I'm sorry."

"For?"

He hesitated. "For overreacting."

"Finally!" She burst as she threw her hands in the air. "Took you long enough! Sheesh!"

"You—you've been waiting for me to apologize?"

"DUH! Ignoring you has been _torture_! I almost cracked and apologized when I saw the picnic. By the way, what is it with you and picnics?"

Nico sighed in relief.

_I'm glad. I didn't realize how lonely it is without Ever until she started ignoring me._

"Also, sorry for flat-out ignoring you." She crunched on her burger. "It's a bad habit of mine."

_At least she acknowledges that it's bad._

They finished their meal in a matter of minutes. Ever had started to clean it up, but Nico told her that Piper and Jason would take care of it. He thought he could hear Piper muttering curses at Nico when he and Ever walked away.

"That was really great, even though it was tense at first." Ever muttered as they walked back to their cabins. The sun slowly started disappearing, and a chill raced through the air. "Thanks. I'm really glad we made up."

"Me too."

Then, the impossible happened.

Ever reached over and held his hand.

_H-huh? What is happening…?!_

Nico tensed and glanced down at his hand. Ever's rather large hand—for a girl—wrapped around his larger hand, and he noticed that his fingers were completely limp. He glanced up at Ever's face. She was already looking at him, with a smile on her face.

_Oh my gods…what do I do?!_

Nico took in a deep breath.

_Just…act casual._

_BUT WHAT IS CASUAL?!_

_Okay, deep breaths. In, out, in, out, in—gods I'm taking this too seriously. Just…grab her hand._

Nico took another deep breath and started to wrap his fingers around Ever's hand. Then the weight of the situation came upon him.

_Oh my gods—Ever's holding my hand. What if I'm not supposed to grab it back?_

_What else am I supposed to do?_

_WHAT IF—_

_No, I __can__ do this!_

_What if I mess up our friendship again!_

_C'mon Nico, it's not like you're getting married!_

_OH GODS GETTING MARRIED—_

_Be a man!_

_I can't do it—_

_Yes you can!_

_WHY IS THIS SO COMPLICATING?!_

_Just imagine what it would be like to hold her hand!_

_I CAN'T!_

_YOU CAN!_

_NO—_

_YES—_

_NO—_

_JUST DO IT!_

He grabbed her hand.

**_?:_**

He watched as the son of Hades and daughter of Demeter held hands and walked towards the cabins. Nico's cheeks were flushed a deep crimson, and Ever was laughing at his expression.

"Geez, Nico. You should have told me I was making you uncomfortable."

"Well…at first I was uncomfortable…"

"At first?" Ever blushed slightly and grinned in satisfaction. Nico blushed redder. "I could tell you were freaking out. What were you thinking, exactly?"

"Uuuh…" Nico stuttered. "I kind of had two different trains of thought that didn't agree with each other…"

Ever laughed and bumped his shoulder with hers. "So you were basically fighting yourself?"

"Pretty much."

That's when he took the picture. This time, he remembered to keep the flash turned off. But he probably should have made sure the sound was off…

"What was that clicking sound?"

"I don't know, a cricket?"

"Crickets don't click, they make fiddle noises."

"Ever, don't you mean chirp?"

"No, that's birds."

Nico sighed and snorted in amusement, the flush on his face starting to dim. He seemed to be more natural. More…content.

"Seriously Nico, what if we're being followed by that stalker again?"

"What stalker?"

"You know, that flash during my birthday picnic and that creepy shadow that ran off?"

"Oh, _that_ stalker."

"Wait—what do you mean, _that stalker._ Is there more than one stalker?" Ever demanded. She and Nico slowly walked out of view, their voices getting quieter and quieter until everything was silent. The man grinned and jumped down from the tree he was in, cradling his prizes. He ran off and jumped into the pond, once again disappearing without a trace.

**_Enyo:_**

Enyo stalked around the buildings, using her sight to look for the condemned. By her side were Despoina and Ichnaea, fellow goddesses allied with her lord Enyalius. Despoina, the goddess of mysteries, used to help find clues about the condemned's location. Ichnaea, the goddess of tracking, used to help track the condemned should a trail be found—or they flee.

"Despoina!" Enyo howled at the meek, silvery-haired goddess. "Have you found them?"

"No, m'lady." The young goddess bowed deeply and spoke softly. "I have, however, pinpointed a general area where they might be residing."

"Where?" Enyo demand. She wanted results, and fast. Both she and Melpomene were tasked to find the condemned, but Enyo wanted to beat that skinny little muse. For years she, Enyo, had stood by Enyalius' side. Then Melpomene appeared in her thin robes and peachy skin, stealing away Enyalius' precious time. If that giggly muse thought she could tramp into Enyalius and Enyo's plans, she was mistaken.

"They are somewhere in New York, I believe." Despoina muttered meekly. Enyo scoffed. She was such a soft and weak ally.

"Ichnaea!" She yelled. The goddess immediately came to stand by her side, eagerness dancing across her face. "Scout ahead, see if you can find anything else on the condemned."

"Yes, milady!" Ichnaea shot off and sniffed the air as she ran, looking like a humanoid bloodhound. Enyo sighed and crossed her arms in discontent. Ahead, she noticed Ichnaea trip and face plant. Despoina kneeled on the ground, muttering, and blowing on dandelions.

_I'm surrounded by idiots. Don't worry, Enyalius. I shall help you gather the condemned, and together we will become the rulers of Olympus._

**THAKS FOR READING! Remember, FOLLOW, REVIEW, and FAVORITE! The more reviews I get, the faster I write!**

**Hayden: Just want to put it out there, but these last few reviews have been AWESOME!**

**Me: IKR?!**

**Sonic: *grumpy* I don't see how they are so great...**

**Hayden: That's only because everyone always mistakes you for a blue hedgehog xD *really really enjoying this***

**Sonic: I don't understand any of this. Why would I be a hedgehog? Since when have hedgehogs been blue?**

**Me: Since Sonic the Hedgehog.**

**Sonic: I still don't understand. I'm a demigod, a son of Zeus. How is any of that related to hedgehogs or the color blue?**

**Hayden: Have you seriously never heard of Sonic the Hedgehog?**

**Sonic: -_-**

**Hayden: HAHAHAH! Oh this is just sad! Honestly, I knew you were old-fashioned, but this is just too much! *still enjoying this***

**Me: He's a complex character, I should know :D HE IS MY CREATION!**

**Sonic: Oh dear, she's in one of her author moods again...**

**Me: I mean, his character is just so deep; his mother-**

**Hayden: Uh, changing the subject! I'M IN A CHAPTER! xD**

**Sonic: Which makes no sense. He is supposed to be in a whole other story line, how can he belong in this alternate universe while he is in another?**

**Me: How am I supposed to know? I'm only the messenger.**

**Hayden: It's because I'm MAGIC!**

**Sonic: *grumpy* -_-**

**REVIEW, FAVORITE, and FOLLOW! xD**


	9. The Apartment

**Thank you so much for your reviews! YOU MAKE ME SO HAPPY, PPLS! xD**

**Well, ENJOY!**

**_Ever:_**

"Wha-Huh?" Ever mumbled incomprehensibly. Was what she hearing actually happening? "Say that again? I think my ears are broken."

Mrs. Jackson (oops, Mrs. _Blofis_) laughed and leaned closer. Even through the Iris message, Ever could tell she was a very beautiful woman. Not only that, but she reminded her of Edward, her older brother. They both had calming voices and reassuring smiles, something Ever missed. "What are your arrangements for the winter?" Although that wasn't the question Ever had been stumped by, she played along.

"Uhm, well, I dunno. That idiot Andrew didn't wait for Chiron's ok before he faked my death. Although I have to say, he has a very impressive dramatic flair. If anything, I'm glad he decided to shoot me during a bank robbery." Ever tapped her fingers against her chin.

_Where __am__ I going? Hayden wants me to come to his boarding school, but I don't think he realizes that his school is for __orphans__. I'm pretty sure everyone would be stumped when a certain Everett Jeremy Elwood comes back to life. Well, actually, I could change my name and dye my hair green…_

"Actually, I've got nothing planned."

Mrs. Jackson smiled and clasped her hands to her chest. "Well, Percy's told me so much about you, so I'd be glad to welcome you to my home."

_Is she…inviting me to live at her house?!_

**~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~**

Ever and Nico sat next to each other outside the bus station. Percy had left for his home earlier to help set up Ever's room, so she was going into New York with Nico for company. After a week of planning and thinking things over, she was moving into the Jackson's (Blofis') home for the winter until Camp started up again. Chiron had given her the option of being an all year student, but Ever just didn't feel like that was the right option, even thought it meant being with Nico all year.

_That's probably the thing I'll miss the most about going back to school. Nico won't be there._

Suddenly, a thought came to her.

"Hey Nico," She started. He turned from his daydreams and gave her a questioning look. "Where are you going for the winter?"

Nico hesitated before looking into the distance and sighing. "I think I'm just going to roam. There's nothing tying me to Camp now that you're leaving, so yeah." H e shrugged like it was nothing, but Ever knew better. He hid a melancholy look behind that poker face. She knew that Nico had only stayed at Camp Half-Blood because she was there. Ever had heard plenty of stories about Nico's wanderings and mishaps. She felt sad imagining him alone, wandering the globe. The loneliness would have drove her insane, so she commended Nico for being such a strong person.

"Why don't you live with someone, like I am. Hazel, maybe? Wait, no…that's at Camp Jupiter…but you could still go there! That'd be far though…"

"Hazel asked me that yesterday." Nico muttered as he lounged back against the bench. "I've been thinking about that, but I'm not sure."

Nico turned to look at Ever and smirked. "Besides, it'd be harder to visit you if I was all the way in California."

_California…that's right. I used to live there. To think, Cam Jupiter was literally only 45 minutes away from my house. I wonder what would have happened if I went had gone there instead of Camp Half-Blood._

She grinned at Nico and said, "Well, if you decide to go to Cali, say 'hi' to my family for me. But don't knock on their door or anything, that would most likely freak them out."

Nico snorted and shook his head in amusement. He opened his mouth to say something, but the bus turned a corner and stopped at the bench. It's door opened, and a hairy man sat behind the wheel. He faintly smelled of smoke. Ever crinkled her nose and walked into the bus with Nico behind her. They chose a seat near the middle. The bus was strangely vacant. The only people in it were Nico, herself, a cat lady, and three rowdy-looking teenage boys. The boys eyed Ever, then eyed Nico and scoffed with smirks on their faces.

"Maybe we shouldn't have sat across from high school delinquents over there." Ever muttered in Nico's ear. He glanced warily at the boys and shrugged. The bus started moving and everything was quiet for about five minutes before one of the boys made a move.

"Hey sweetheart, why don't you dump Mr. Goth and come hang with some real men." The biggest boy, probably the leader, said flirtatiously to Ever.

"I would, except the only men I see are the bus driver and Mr. Goth over here." Ever replied. "Between the two, I'd rather go with gloom than hairy old guy."

The boy blinked in surprise and glanced at Nico. Something like confusion crossed the boy's face, and he frowned. "What's this _boy_ have that I don't? He's a scrawny little guy. Doesn't look a day over dead, and he ain't the best eye candy compared to me." The boy pointed to himself, and his cohorts nodded with the same confusion.

_Sheesh, I forgot how stupid teenage boys can be. _**(NO OFFENSE TO ANY TEENAGE BOYS OUT THERE)** _This just makes me thankful that Percy and Nico aren't this outrageous._

Ever was startled when Nico arm snaked around her shoulders. He glared atomic bombs at the boys and snarled slightly. "She's mine."

The leader blinked. The boys blinked. Ever blinked.

_HUUUH?_

Nico leaned closer to than and growled. "_Mine._"

The three boys gulped and leaned away. The cat lady nodded in satisfaction and gave Nico a thumbs up.

He moved his arm from Ever's shoulders and sighed in exhaustion. Nico gave her a shy smile, and she laughed.

"Wow Nico, I didn't know you felt so strong about me." Ever teased with a grin.

"Surprised me, too." Nico rubbed the back of his neck and blushed crimson. Although she wouldn't admit it, Ever was glad Nico had stepped in. She knew he didn't mean what he said, but she had a small sliver of hope.

_What am I thinking? We're just friends. Nothing more, nothing less._

Something in Ever disagreed.

**~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~**

The two of them arrived at the Jackson's apartment building after the bus dropped them off, and they walked a few blocks. It wasn't too big compared to some of the other building, but Ever was still in awe.

"Why would someone make these _gigantic _buildings! What if you get an earthquake and everything _falls over_!" Ever hollered when she saw the Empire State building.

"Doesn't San Fransisco have big buildings, too?" Nico asked with amusement. He had a small smile on his face as he watched her gaze at the buildings.

"Well, yeah, but this is different!"

"How?"

"It just is!"

The two of them entered the apartment building and went to the floor Percy had told them. They walked down the hall until they came upon room 413. Ever raised a hand to knock, but the door opened before she could. There stood Percy in blue pjs, a sleepy look on his face. He yawned and opened the door for them to come in.

"Mornin'." He mumbled—even though it was noon—as they walked into the family room. Everything was suspiciously blue. Blue couch, blue coasters, blue curtains, blue carpet, if anything, this seemed more like Percy's dream house than his parents' home. "Want some pancakes?"

Ever carried in a single suitcase and backpack. She placed them by the door and threw herself on the couch, letting her legs dangle off the armrest. There was enough room for Nico to squeeze next to her head and sit without having her in his lap.

"Yes!" Ever told Percy. He nodded sleepily and walked into the kitchen. It was a small area with tile flooring and a marble counter. A shiny oven and microwave was imbedded into the counter, and a silver fridge stood off to the side. Percy popped some blue things into the microwave and came back with, surprise surprise, blue pancakes.

"Is everything here blue?" Ever asked as she stuffed a pancake in her mouth.

"Pretty much."

They sat there for a couple second, the only sound was Ever chewing on blue pancakes. Nico cleared his throat and stood up.

"Well, I should go."

"Nico?"

"Good-bye, Ever." Nico smiled at her and walked out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him. Percy yawned.

"Ah, sorry 'bout that. My mom made me stay up last night and get your room ready." Percy rubbed his eyes and slapped himself, trying to keep his eyes open. Ever nodded and sighed.

_Why did Nico leave like that? He could have at least stayed a little longer and had a proper good-bye. I never got to give him his thank you present._

She glanced at her backpack, where Nico's present was.

_Oh well, I'll have to give it to him when I see him again. But, when will that be?_

Percy noticed that she was thinking about Nico, so he smiled and poked her. "C'mon, I gotta show you your room!" He jumped up and ran down the hall. Ever heard a bang and an 'OW!'. Laughing, she got up and followed him down the hall towards her new life.

**_Nico:_**

Nico wandered around New York. He didn't know what he was doing, only that he couldn't leave. Every time he got near the city's end, he just turned back and started walking. A couple times he ended up near the Jackson's apartment building. Each time he look up and tried to look into the windows to find Ever or Percy. He never saw them. There he was, right now, staring up at the building that had stolen Ever.

_Stolen? What am I thinking? She wasn't stolen, she's just—_

Gone.

Nico sighed and looked up at the building again, searching the windows. He was about to give up when a familiar face met him. Mrs. Jackson stared at him from one of the windows, smiling. His face blushed crimson at being caught. He scurried off into the crowd and disappeared. Nico wandered around some more, not even paying attention to where he was going, when the sky started to darken.

_I'm an idiot. Now where am I going to go? There isn't anywhere close enough that I can shadow travel to._

Nico scowled and went into a cheap looking hotel, paying more money than the stinky building was worth. He lay on the small bed and stared at the ceiling, once again wondering why he was still in New York.

_Maybe I just want to make sure she's safe. Yeah, that's it! I'll just stay here for a couple more days until I know she's fine. That's it. Then I'll leave. _

Nico stayed in New York for a month before he remembered the conversation he had had with himself in the hotel room. He watched Percy and Ever laughing as they walked to school. Percy was no longer a high schooler. Both he and Annabeth were planning to become student at Camp Jupiter. The only reason Percy was in New York was because Ever needed to get used to the city.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" A voice said from next to him. Nico jumped and raised his fists.

"M-Ms. Jackson!" He yelled in surprise. She waggled her finger at him.

"Mrs. Blofis now."

"O-oh, y-yeah." Nico rubbed his arm and sighed in relief. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here." She pointed to the apartment building across the street, and laughed when Nico blushed beet red. "What about you?"

"I-I…uuuh…"

She winked at him. "You don't want to leave Everett, do you?"

Nico found himself shaking his head.

_Kill me now._

"Well, why don't you come out of hiding and get your breakfast?"

"Huh?"

Mrs. Jackson grabbed the edge of Nico's sleeve and pulled his across the street and into the apartment building, smiling the whole way. "You can't watch Ever from afar like that, so I'm extending my home to you."

_Huh?_

Mrs. Jackson smiled. "I'm inviting you to live with us."

**_Melpomene:_**

Melpomene walked through the streets of New York, looking out of place. Her young beauty caught the eyes of every male. She bathed in their awed stares. Her tracker had pinpointed this location. Melpomene was here to steal the condemned. They would be a beautiful present for Enyalius. Then, she, Melpomene, would become his main concern, and that hideous Enyo would be out of the picture.

A malicious grin spread across her face as she smelled the stench of demigod. She followed her nose until she came upon a large building. Two boys and a girl walked out of the building, merrily talking and laughing.

They smelled like demigod.

Melpomene felt the leaves in her hands and walked towards the building, following their scent the whole way. She walked up stairs until the smell went down the hall, and into a room labeled 413.

**DUN DUN DUUUUN! FOLLOW, FAVORITE, AND REVIEW!**

**Hayden: Why is she so creepy? WHY CAN SHE SMELL PEOPLE?!**

**Sonic: I am quiet sure that goddesses do not have the ability to smell demigods...**

**Me: Shaddup. It is what is it, so LIVE WITH IT!**

**Hayden: Well, her weirdness sure is ****_tragic_****!**

**Me: ?**

**Hayden: Ah, ah? Does no one get that joke?**

**Sonic: Melpomene is the muse of tragedy...oh, yes, I see!**

**Me: OOOOH!**

**Hayden: FINALLY! No one appreciates good irony any more.**

**THANK YOU MY PEEPS! REMEMBER, THE MORE REVIEWS THE FASTER I WRITE! BYYYYYYE!**


	10. The Family Tree

**Thanks so much for waiting!**

**MERRY CHRISTMAS! xD Thanks to everyone who reviews, follows, and favorites my story! xD You people are the reason why I write!**

**OKAY: I have a challenge for you all! LOOK If you can guess who the mysterious stalker is, I'll name a character after you! Just put the name of who you think it is, and the name of the character you want!**

**EXAMPLE:**

***PERSON WHO IS STALKER***

**Shelly *NAME OF A CHARACTER YOU WANT TO SEE***

**And if I get eleven more reviews BEFORE New Year's, I'll let a little spoiler about the-****_ahem_****-epic battle to come ;)**

**ENJOY!**

**_Nico:_**

"NICO WAKE UP FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE!"

Nico heard Ever's screams and bolted upright. Percy, whose bed was right next to his blow-up mattress, groaned and pulled the blue sheets to cover his face, muttering, "Five more minutes…"

"NICO NICO HELP HELP!"

Nico jumped up and started to run, but his legs got tangled in the sheets, so he tumbled to the floor and almost cracked his head on the doorframe. "EVER! What's wrong?!"

"NICO NICO NICO NICO NICO NICO NICO!"

_WHAT IN THE WORLD IS WRONG?!_

He pushed the sheets off and ran out of the room, a sleepy Percy right behind him. Nico was running so fast that he ran into a wall, but he shook off the pain in his pinky toe and went into the kitchen. He expected the walls to burning. He expected a burglar to have Ever at gunpoint. He expected her to be coughing blood into the sink.

He did not expect her to be calmly sitting at the table surfing the internet.

Percy opened his mouth to speak, but Ever pointed to the microwave and said, "I heated up some hash browns for you."

He nodded and shuffled towards the food. Nico stared at Ever with his mouth hanging open.

"Oh, Nico, c'mere." She used her pointer finger to call him over. He shuffled to her and stared at her. "Took you long enough."

"Took me long enough?!" Nico demanded. Honestly, did she think she would get away with scaring him like that? "I thought you were dying!"

"I am! Dying for you help!" Ever pointed at the laptop screen. He squinted his eyes and was surprised to find her at a website called "myheritage".

_Why would she need a heritage website…oh._

What else would be she doing except look for her father? Now that she knows her mom is Demeter, that means her missing parent must be a man. Nico hadn't even considered that she might still be looking for her father.

_Of course she's looking for him._

"I still don't understand why you need my help." Nico muttered as he pulled a chair towards the table and sat backwards on it. He leaned his head against the back of it and frowns at the internet page. In the search bar is the name EVERETT JEREMY ELWOOD. On the screen was a large tree with the name EVERETT J. ELWOOD at the base, and two branches spiraling upwards. Both said UNKNOWN.

"Even this stupid heritage website has no clue who my parents are." Ever scowled and pretended to punch the computer screen. "I had to sneak this into the house because of Mrs. Blofis' strict 'No-Monster-Magnet' rule, yet I didn't even get answers!"

Ever snapped the laptop's screen down and stuffed it in a messenger bag. She turns to Nico and stares him down with serious eyes. "What I am about to tell you is strictly confidential."

She beckons Percy over, and the boys listen carefully to Ever's next words. "Percy, your job is to distract my family. Today is their annual Beginning of School Year Yard Cleanup, so they'll all be outside raking, mowing, and all that stuff. I need you to distract them away from the house."

Percy and Nico gave each other confused looks.

"Nico, your job is to enter the house and search my parents' room for my adoption papers. Do NOT read them! Understand?"

"You want me to _break in _to your adopted parent's house?!" Nico burst angrily. Who does she think she is? Nico wouldn't break into _anyone's_ house, even if the gods ordered it! Breaking and entering was one of the things he avoided at all costs. "No way in Hades am I doing that!"

"Fine. Then you can be the distraction." Ever said seriously. Nico blinked and scrunched his nose. He made a sputtering noise when he realized that no matter what, Ever would rope him into doing this. If he knew Ever—and he was pretty sure he did—she would bug him about this until the end of time.

Nico could deal with that.

**~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~**

Nico was right about one thing and wrong about another. Ever did bug him. Every waking second was spent explaining the house's floor plan and different distraction ideas to Nico. Eventually Percy joined in, and both jokesters had a blast nagging Nico. He was able to hold against them for a week before they cracked him. So here he was, in a tree, waiting for Percy's bird whistle.

"TWEET TWEEET TWEET!"

_You can't be serious, Percy. What kind of bird whistle is that?_

"WHOOO WHOOO WHOOO!"

Nico sighed and crawled down. He landed on the damp grass and stared at the fleeting figures of Ever's adopted family. Nico suddenly wondered what sort of distraction Percy had used.

"CACAAAW CACAAW CACAAAW!"

Nico stared up at the house that had once housed Ever. It was three stories with a Victorian styled turret at the top. Ever had said that whole third floor was her own. Her parents' room was on the second floor next to the bathroom.

"HOOT HOOOT HOOT!"

Nico didn't have the heart to tell Percy that he had heard the signal three times already. It was the idiot's punishment for helping Ever annoy him.

Nico walked to the front of the house and pulled on the handle. It swung open without resistance.

_You would think a lawyer would know better than to leave the front door open._

He walked into the house and stared at all the antiquities. There were intricately painted vases, wooden carvings, and fancy paintings; Nico wasn't sure if he was in a museum or a house. He walked farther into the house and stared in awe at the chic couch that looked like it had never been used. The kitchen was white marble, and the appliances were shinier than a diamond. Everything looked like it was brand new.

_Didn't Ever say they had lived in the same house for years? Maybe they renovated?_

Nico had a feeling no one was ever home to use them.

"CAAW CAAAAW CAAW!"

Nico grinned when he heard Percy scream another 'bird call'. He walked up the pristine wooden stairs to the next floor. There were more antiquities. He searched for he bathroom. Nico found it and marveled at its shininess before finding the parent's room.

It was even cleaner than the bathroom. The only things in the room were literally a king sized bed, a dresser, and a nightstand. Nico checked the nightstand, and found a folder with the words 'ADOPTION PAPERS' written on it.

_This is too easy…_

Nico grabbed the folder and ran out of the museum-like house as fast as he could. It gave him the creeps to be in such a clean house; especially when he knew Ever had lived there with two boys. _Boys._ One a teenager, no less. One would have thought it would be a little messy.

The only thing that had been out of place was a kid's drawing of a girl with curly/wavy brown hair and green eyes planting a garden, the words R. I. P. scribbled on with care.

**~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~**

"You guys were great!" Ever told them when they got back to the apartment. They had been gone a whole weekend; Percy's mom thought they went to visit Annabeth. "I wish I could have been there, but Mrs. Blofis _insisted _I let her shop with me."

Ever shivered. "Anyway, did you get the papers?"

Nico nodded and handed them to her, feeling an ominous shadow settle on his heart. He felt like…Ever shouldn't see the papers.

_That's just stupid. Why shouldn't she see it? It's her right to know._

"You two can get out now."

"HUH?" Percy and Nico hollered. She wanted them to _get out_? After all the hard work they did, she isn't going to let them know?

"C'mon, Ever!" Percy whined childishly. "I wanna know!"

"You can't just make us get the papers for you and _not _let us read it!" Nico complained. He had to admit, he was more than slightly curious. A small part of him wanted to find Ever's father and smack him for leaving her.

"That's exactly what I'm doing." Ever told them quietly, staring at the papers. She looked—Nico can't perfectly explain it—sad. No, more like apprehensive.

_Oh. I see. She doesn't know what to expect. She wants to think._

"But Eveeeeer!" Percy cried.

"Come on, Percy." Nico told him quietly. "Let's leave Ever alone to think about everything."

Percy pouted and crossed his arms. Nico rolled his eyes and grabbed the back of the man's shirt, pulling him out of Ever's room. Before he closed the door, Nico looked back to see Ever open the folder. "Remember," He started to tell her. "If you need anything, Percy and I will be waiting in the dining room."

Ever nodded mutely and stared transfixed at the folder in front of her.

Nico closed the door.

**~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~~~{[()]}~~~**

Nico sat alone on the couch watching TV when Ever stumbled in. Percy had gone to sleep long ago, and both Mr. and Mrs. Jackson (Blofis) were in their bed. Nico glanced at her, but she was looking down, and he couldn't tell how she felt.

"Well?" He asked her. Ever didn't answer, instead she walked to the kitchen and grabbed a bag on Cheetoh Puffs.

_Oh dear. Cheetos Puffs are Ever's comfort food._

Nico didn't speak as he watched Ever shuffle towards the couch and plop down next to him dejectedly. She sniffed and stuffed her mouth with Cheetohs, getting cheese all over herself in the process. Nico turned off the TV and immersed the room in silence. Well, not really silence, since Ever was chewing loudly enough to wake a deaf man.

"Do you want to tell me?" Nico asked her, somewhat shyly. He felt stupid trying to comfort her without knowing what was wrong. What if she didn't want to tell him, or she didn't trust him enough? What if he said anything that made her more sad? Nico was extremely relieved when Ever nodded and turned to him. He blinked when he noticed tears in her eyes.

_How do I deal with situations like these? What do I tell her to make her feel better? What if I have no clue what to say, or I say the wrong thing?_

Ever sniffed, and Nico did the only thing that came to his mind. He reached over and put an arm around her shoulders awkwardly.

_Maybe I'm crossing the line…_

Ever didn't think so. She sniffled louder and leaned onto him. Her head leaned against his shoulder, and she hugged her Cheetohs to her chest protectively.

"N-nico," She muttered jaggedly. "I-it's horrible…"

Nico turned his head to look at her, but his nose went into her hair. He breathed in and smelled the sweet smell of honey.

_Why am I paying attention to her hair?! I need to focus—_

"What's wrong?" He whispered calmly into her ear. Ever sniffed again and leaned back to look him in the face.

"M-my dad—he's a horrible person!"

"Horrible?"

Ever stuffed a hand full of Cheetohs into her mouth before speaking. "H-he's in jail for suspected m-murder!"

Nico's eyed widened.

"Not only that, but he has ch-charges against him for drunk driving and d-debts."

A cry came from Ever as she stuffed more puffs into her mouth. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Nico had no clue how to comfort her. He had no words that could calm her. So, he didn't rely on words. Nico wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her onto his lap. She squacked in surprise, but Nico didn't let her go. He cradled her against his chest. At first she was stiff and uneasy, but she broke into sobs and threw herself against Nico, crying. He rubbed her back soothingly, making wave noises to calm her.

They sat there for a while before Ever calmed down. She relaxed and leaned against him, sniffling. Nico kept rubbing her back until she stopped crying. Her back rose and fell in a rhythm, and it wasn't until ten minutes had passed that he realized she was sleeping. Nico chuckled slightly.

_Gods….I can't believe that happened._

Nico gazed down at her and noticed her tear-streaked face sleeping soundly. She looked absolutely gorgeous.

_Wait—WHAT?! Stupid teenage mind._

Nico shook his head and sighed. Now what was he supposed to do? He couldn't go to sleep with Ever on top of him like that. He didn't want to wake her, either. Nico sighed again and leaned back against the couch. He closed his eyes, and unwillingly fell asleep.

**_?:_**

The man creeped into the kitchen and held up his camera, grinning when he noticed the couple asleep on the couch. This time, he remembered to turn off both the flash and sound. After he took the picture, the man walked back to his room. He tripped over the inflatable mattress before snuggling into his blue covers and falling asleep.

**THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING!**

**I'll be taking a little break for the holidays, so I might not post for a week or two ;) MERRY CHRISTMAS! REVIEW, FOLLOW, AND FAVORITE!**

**Hayden: How dare you take a break?! I HAVEN'T FIGURED OUT WHO THE STALKER IS YET!**

**Sonic: Clearly it's-**

**Me: A PERSON! Clearly it's a person!**

**Sonic: Oh yes, a person. *clears throat* Apologies, author. I almost, what do you say, spilled the beans.**

**Hayden: You sound like an old man.**

**Me: He was in the Lotus Casino for quite some time.**

**Sonic: I still haven't adapted to everything quite yet.**

**Hayden: Wow, I just realized that you're older than me 0-0**

**Sonic: Physically I am only fourteen, but mentally I'm about-**

**Me: SECRET!**

**Sonic: *nervous* Apologies, my mouth doesn't seem to want to obey me.**

**Me: S'okay.**

**THANKS FOR READING! xD MERRY CHRISTMAS!**


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